Environmental, Health and Safety Priorities

Environment, health and safety (EHS) covers a wide range of issues at Baxter, from ensuring employees a safe and productive workplace to reducing the company’s impact on the environment. Baxter’s three EHS-related sustainability priorities direct the evolution of the company’s EHS program, and promote collaboration with stakeholders inside and outside Baxter to achieve optimum performance.

Improving Health and Safety – Baxter has a long history of focusing on employee health and safety. Building on its record safety performance in recent years, Baxter plans to reach best-in-class, defined as being in the top 20 percent among industry peers, by 2015. See Case Study: At Vienna Campus, Everyone Owns Safety. Baxter extended its commitment to wellness by launching BeWell@Baxter, its global health and wellness initiative. See Case Study: BeWell@Baxter.

Reducing Carbon Footprint – Baxter is extending its approach to addressing climate change beyond reducing energy consumption at its facilities by applying technologies such as cogeneration and increasing the use of renewable energy. In addition, the company is pursuing supply chain initiatives that reduce the carbon footprint of its car fleet and is continuing its involvement in carbon trading programs such as the Chicago Climate Exchange. See Case Study: Baxter’s Facility in Costa Rica Goes Carbon Neutral.

Reducing Natural Resource Use – Baxter continues to focus on increasing the efficiency of its natural resource use and reducing waste. The company is facing challenges in meeting its 2010 waste-reduction goal in part due to changes in production. Baxter is reinvigorating its waste-reduction efforts with a focus on reducing plastics waste, which accounted for approximately 31 percent of its non-hazardous waste in 2007. In the area of water, Baxter continues to focus on conservation and plans to pilot a few projects to protect watersheds with high importance to communities. To reduce energy use, Baxter is continuing to implement its "lean energy" program, and is exploring new technologies for global application. See Case Study: Cogeneration Benefits Turkey, Spain Facilities.

Scope of Baxter EHS Reporting

Baxter's 2007 environmental performance data are based on 115 reporting locations, of which 61 are manufacturing, 29 are warehouse and nonmanufacturing, and 25 are administrative, clerical or other. Several of the reporting facilities comprise multiple locations that report as a single entity. For example, in 2007, 37 renal distribution facilities reported as a single entity. Similarly, Baxter's 55 North American plasma collection centers reported as a single entity in 2007.
Baxter’s 2007 health and safety performance data are based on 265 reporting locations.
Regional breakdowns for EHS data are as follows: the North America region comprises Canada, Puerto Rico and the United States; the Latin America region comprises the Dominican Republic, Mexico and facilities south of Mexico; the Asia region comprises Australia, China, India, Japan, the Philippines and Singapore; the Europe region comprises facilities in Europe, Tunisia and Turkey.
In total, the EHS information reported covers 100 percent of Baxter's operations. Reporting of air toxics includes emissions of outsourced sterilization operations used by Baxter.
Environmental data are revised to reflect acquisitions, divestitures and plant closings as well as to incorporate any corrections necessary due to additional data verification activities (such as U.S. EPA’s Climate Leaders, Chicago Climate Exchange and ERM CVS audits).