Responsibility for the environment Audited

We have set out to reduce our impact on the environment by applying the precautionary approach principle. This especially includes utilizing resources such as energy, water and raw materials both sparingly and efficiently while also reducing our emissions and waste.

Environmental management system

Our Corporate EHS Policy defines our principles and strategies for environment, health and safety. It is implemented through internal guidelines and instruction manuals on compliant behavior, such as the Merck Group EHS Security and Quality Manual. At all sites, the local EHS managers are also in charge of operational environmental protection measures. These employees continually receive training and obtain additional qualifications.

Since our businesses are constantly changing, our environmental management system must also remain flexible and adaptable. For this reason, we have internal and external audits conducted on a regular basis to determine whether the ISO 14001 requirements are still being met. In 2013, Merck received the ISO 14001 group certificate for our environmental management system for the fifth consecutive year.

Expenditure on environmental protection, health and safety totaled € 142 million in 2013, which also includes investments made during 2013.

Climate protection

Climate change and its consequences are one of the main challenges facing society in the 21st century. Being a responsible company, it is especially important to us to do our part, which is why we have set ourselves the goal of reducing total direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions by 20% by 2020, measured against the 2006 baseline.

In order to achieve this goal, Merck has launched a climate protection program called EDISON that consolidates all climate change mitigation and energy efficiency activities of the Merck Group. In 2014, as in 2012 and 2013, the Executive Board will additionally earmark around € 10 million for measures to conserve energy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. We intend to use this sum to initiate another 130 individual projects as well as to continue projects from 2012 and 2013. Through the 200 EDISON projects that were launched in these two years, Merck aims to annually save around 63 metric kilotons of CO₂ in the medium term. In 2013, Merck lowered its greenhouse gas emissions by around 1% relative to the 2006 baseline.

Around two thirds of the projects planned Group-wide have already been or are being rolled out, including also major energy generation projects. In Jaffrey, New Hampshire (USA), as well as in Goa, India, Merck is currently constructing power plants that will use carbon-neutral biomass as fuel in order to supply the sites with electricity. Another EDISON project is the gas-fired cogeneration unit at our site in Gernsheim, Germany, which went on line in mid-2013. It uses a high-efficiency gas turbine-driven cogeneration system to produce electricity, while almost completely preventing the loss of unused heat. This will cut down Merck’s carbon footprint by around 6,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide per year.

Focus areas: Energy efficiency, greenhouse gas emissions, water scarcity

Energy management plays a key role in our efforts for sustainable energy efficiency and climate change mitigation. Merck’s production sites in Darmstadt and Gernsheim account for around 40% of Merck’s global energy consumption. In 2012, both of these sites qualified for ISO 50001 – Energy Management System certificates, which were reaffirmed in 2013. Our Taoyuan site in Taiwan received the ISO 50001 certificate in 2013 for the first time. Counting the Bari and Tiburtina sites in Italy, this makes five Merck production sites that have a certified energy management system.

We utilize company cars sparingly and ensure that they are energy efficient, which also contributes to climate change mitigation and cuts down costs. In 2013, Merck therefore revised its company car policy and defined specific goals. By 2020, we want to decrease the Group-wide CO₂ emissions of our car fleet by 30% relative to the 2012 baseline. Consequently, Merck will be requiring its company cars to be low-emission, state-of-the-art vehicles that provide good fuel economy.

The Climate Performance Leadership Index and the Climate Disclosure Leadership Index of the Climate Disclosure Project (CDP), an independent non-profit organization, both indicate that we are on the right track. In 2013, we were once more ranked in performance band B, which puts us clearly in the upper range of all participating companies in the Germany, Austria and Switzerland category. Merck again significantly improved its disclosure score, raising it to 92 out of 100 possible points, thus meeting the requirements for the CDP’s top quality rating. Around 350 companies are rated on their performance in emissions reductions and climate change reporting. The CDP publishes these two indices in order to make greenhouse gas emissions reporting more transparent.

In addition to energy, in 2013 Merck also focused its attention on the topic of water. We have examined our sites to determine which ones are located in regions where water is scarce and thus an especially precious commodity, and plan to establish sustainable water management programs particularly at these sites. Furthermore, we participated in the CDP’s water program in 2013 for the first time.