Environment

This impact consists primarily of energy use and waste at the Group’s production facilities and emissions in conjunction with travel and transportation. Offices and other premises also use energy.

Meda strives to work and act in a way that is environmentally sustainable in the long term. Resources must be used efficiently, and environmental consideration must be integrated into all decisions. Meda tries to ensure that regulations and laws concerning the environment and working conditions are observed. Toxic chemicals in particular are handled with extreme care. In addition, Meda continually works according to ISO 14001 to reduce its environmental impact beyond requirements set by current legislation, particularly in the reduction of energy use and waste production.

Meda's environmental policy

Meda’s environmental initiatives must contribute to a long-term sustainable society and maintain profitability through economizing on natural resources. Tangible guidelines and objectives for Meda’s environmental work are to:

• Comply with prevailing environmental legislation and ordinances across the company
• Consider opportunities and risks from an environmental perspective when making business decisions
• Try to reduce energy use in all parts of the business
• Consider the environment when purchasing goods and services and when choosing transportation and travel
• Ensure secure, responsible chemical management
• Prevent and limit water and waste volumes and continuously improve waste management
• Work toward an environmental management system per ISO 14001
• Involve and train employees in environmental issues and create an atmosphere of continuous improvement

Each country manager must ensure that the Group’s environmental policy is implemented within all facilities. Local additions and adaptations may also be made to strengthen the policy.

Environmental permits and manufacturer liability

Main focus in Meda’s environmental work is on controlling operations at its production facilities in France, Germany, and the US—and pilot-scale production in the drug development department in Germany. These facilities hold environmental permits required by legislation of each country and the EU.

Meda was well aware of its operations’ impact on the environment before introduction of an environmental management system. This knowledge is based on historical operational data and the comprehensive environmental audits of risks that Meda has commissioned in recent years at the production facilities in France, Germany, and the US—plus the development department in Germany. No deviations from prevailing legislation were found. The environmental audits included a review of geological conditions, land use issues, production procedures, related environmental factors, and legal requirements for management of such factors. The audits also included safety-related incidents; complaints from area residents; tanks above and below ground and their related piping; testing and certification of the tanks; procedures for prevention of unplanned discharges; noise issues; and review of the presence of dangerous materials such as asbestos, ozone-depleting substances, and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB).

Certified environmental management system per ISO 14001

Meda developed an environmental management system in 2008, and it complies with ISO 14001. The environmental management system was certified in 2009 for production facilities in France and Germany, the product development facility in Germany, and the head office in Stockholm. LRQA was appointed as certification agency. In early 2010 environmental management standards were implemented in the production facilities in the US. These will be progressively implemented in the rest of the Group.

Reporting of direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions

Since 2008, Meda has participated annually in the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) in which the Group reports direct and indirect emissions of greenhouse gases. Cooperation with the CDP provides Meda with good guidance for its continued environmental initiatives.

Drugs in the environment

Meda complies with regulatory requirements in the countries in which they operate and carefully monitors published observations and findings. Modern analysis technology enables drug residues in water environments to be discovered at very low concentrations. In general, the consensus of global experts at universities, public authorities, and in the industry on whether traces of drugs in the environment comprise a risk is not unanimous, but the predominant view is that volumes measured to date cannot be considered a risk for human beings or cause injury to animals and plants.

Restoration obligations

In the 1980s, long before Meda acquired its production facility in Cologne, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) and chlorinated hydrocarbons (CHC) contamination were discovered in groundwater. An action plan was then produced in cooperation with the applicable public authorities. The plan called for removal of contaminated soil. In the 1990s, a water pump was installed, and it continues to pump up and purify groundwater with activated carbon. Levels of PAH and CHC contamination have gradually declined. Groundwater pumping is expected to continue until at least 2016.