Water and Wastewater

Water is critical for good health. More than 850 million people live without clean drinking water and 2.6 billion do not have access to modern sanitation. Inadequate access to safe water and sanitation services, coupled with poor hygiene practices, kills and sickens countless people every day, and leads to impoverishment and diminished opportunities for many more.¹

Water is also essential to Baxter’s business and to the patients that rely on the company’s products. Reflecting this, the company extended its water use goal from a 20% reduction by 2010 to a 35% reduction by 2015, both indexed to revenue and compared to 2005. Baxter also has committed to implement two projects by 2015 to help protect vulnerable watersheds and provide communities with enhanced access to clean water.

Water and other environmental issues are interconnected. For example, warmer temperatures caused by climate change are expected to decrease fresh water availability significantly, especially in water-scarce areas.² As temperatures rise, elevating sea levels may increase salt water intrusion and degradation in water aquifers near the ocean.

Water consumption, energy usage and greenhouse gas emissions are interrelated within Baxter’s manufacturing operations as well. The production of highly purified water requires energy to operate water purification equipment such as reverse osmosis and water distillation units. As water quality decreases, Baxter will need to use additional energy and water for these purposes.

Water Usage

Baxter closely manages how it obtains, uses, treats, re-circulates and discharges water. In 2010, Baxter obtained about half of its water from on-site wells and half from municipal water distribution systems.

In 2010, Baxter's global operations used approximately 13.4 million cubic meters³ of water, the rough equivalent of filling 15 Olympic-sized swimming pools every day. The company used 10% less water in 2010 than in 2005 in absolute terms and 31% less indexed to revenue, exceeding Baxter’s 2010 water-reduction goal.

Baxter uses water in three main ways:

• Process-related uses include cooling towers, chillers, steam boilers, sterilizers and water purification;
• Use of purified water in the company’s solution products; and
• Other uses such as in sinks, toilets, cafeterias and landscaping irrigation.

Water Conservation

Facilities with water-intensive operations develop site-specific water efficiency initiatives and metrics. Environment, Health and Safety (EHS) and Facilities Engineering personnel review performance to identify best practices for application at other locations.

Baxter decreased water consumption in 2010 through water recovery and reuse projects at several facilities:

Baxter identifies water usage reduction opportunities and possible water conservation projects in several ways. Due to the strong link between energy usage and water processing, optimizing water systems remains a key focus for the company’s facility energy assessments. Additionally, Baxter integrates Lean manufacturing principles and tools, such as value stream mapping, with water management, to help facilities identify areas for additional conservation.

Water issues vary significantly by location. Baxter used the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) Global Water Tool to evaluate the availability of renewable water resources at Baxter’s 40 largest water-consuming locations, representing approximately 92% of the company’s total water use. Ten of those sites are located in water-scarce areas, eight in water-stressed areas and 22 in water-sufficient areas (see second note on graph below).

While the WBCSD water tool has helped Baxter screen operations located in potentially water scarce or stressed areas, Baxter plans to conduct further analysis to understand the full water risk at each location. Additionally, Baxter intends to expand its water risk evaluation beyond the availability of renewable water resources to also consider regulatory, geopolitical, economic and social factors that can impact water access and use. Based on this information, the company will develop a more comprehensive water risk management strategy, and set more rigorous water conservation goals.

Through the help of Water Advocates, Baxter has begun to explore partnership opportunities with local non-governmental organizations to implement projects aimed at helping to protect vulnerable watersheds or provide communities with enhanced access to clean water and sanitation. Progress toward the company’s 2015 goal in this area has been slower than anticipated, but Baxter expects to meet its commitment.

Wastewater

Wastewater discharged from Baxter's production operations represents one of the company's most significant environmental compliance risks. In 2010, 67 of Baxter’s 70 self-reported environmental incidents were exceedances of permitted wastewater discharge limits. During the year, 70% of the reported wastewater discharge exceedances were from two Baxter locations: Lessines, Belgium, reported 21 wastewater exceedances related to temperature, and Sabiñánigo, Spain, reported 28 wastewater exceedances, primarily involving increased flow of treated wastewater. Both facilities have worked with local environmental authorities to ensure that actions taken in response are satisfactory. In addition, Baxter’s environmental engineering group will engage an external wastewater expert during 2011 to ensure implementation of proper preventive actions at both locations.

It is important to note that a single event may result in numerous environmental compliance incidents. For instance, a discharge of a large amount of hot water during the course of seven days that elevates the wastewater discharge temperature above the daily regulatory limit would be counted as seven environmental compliance incidents. The Lessines, Belgium, and Sabiñánigo, Spain, facilities both experienced events that spanned multiple days and resulted in multiple exceedances.

To address actual wastewater compliance issues and to anticipate potential ones, since 2006 Baxter’s environmental engineering group has performed wastewater risk evaluations and developed recommendations for facilities with elevated wastewater compliance risk.

The group selects facilities for evaluation based on:

• Noncompliance history;
• Potential for noncompliance to result in environmental impact;
• Facility wastewater treatment capacity and reliability;
• Anticipated changes in production or the introduction of new products; and
• Sufficiency of resources that support wastewater operations.

Baxter-Operated Wastewater Treatment Systems

Eleven of Baxter’s manufacturing operations treat wastewater on-site and either discharge to a waterway or operate as zero-discharge facilities. These facilities typically do not have access to regional or municipal wastewater-treatment systems. For example, Baxter’s facilities in Alathur and Waluj, India, reuse all treated wastewater on-site for landscaping and irrigation or, after further treatment by reverse osmosis, for cooling-towers. In 2010, these 11 facilities treated 4.0 million cubic meters of wastewater, equivalent to nearly 30% of Baxter's total water consumption.

Baxter uses the following indicators globally to evaluate wastewater quality at the nine company facilities that discharge directly into waterways:

• 5-Day biochemical oxygen demand (BOD₅);
• Chemical oxygen demand (COD); and
• Total suspended solids (TSS).

These are the most commonly used indicators of wastewater quality across Baxter operations and are indicative of the operational performance of wastewater treatment systems. The company monitors and reports additional metrics following local requirements, but these are not collected at all sites and so are not included in this report.

The combined treated effluent from the nine facilities that discharge to a waterway contained substances that represent 41 metric tons of BOD₅, 106 metric tons of COD and 34 metric tons of TSS. This equals average concentrations of 10 mg/liter BOD₅, 27 mg/liter COD and 9 mg/liter TSS. These levels generally are regarded as indicators of adequately treated wastewater and are below typical regulatory discharge limits.

Wastewater Pollutants*
		2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	Typical Acceptable Discharge Level (mg/L)
BOD5**	Metric Tons	26	26	28	28	31	41
	mg/L	6	6	6	7	8	10	20
COD**	Metric Tons	111	119	134	132	102	106
	mg/L	26	27	30	31	27	27	60
TSS**	Metric Tons	45	49	53	48	31	34
	mg/L	11	11	12	11	8	9	20
Total Direct Discharge	Cubic Meters	4,340,000	4,565,000	4,538,000	4,295,000	3,777,000	3,948,000

*	Estimated total water pollutant levels for treated wastewater discharged directly into waterways. Data do not include two facilities that operate zero-discharge systems in accordance with local regulatory requirements.
**	When actual performance data were not available, estimates were developed based on performance at similar facilities or on other measured performance indicators.

Wastewater and Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients

Baxter takes seriously the concern about active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) entering the public water supply. The company primarily produces solutions whose principal ingredients include water, salts and simple sugars. However, Baxter purchases and uses some solution therapies and products for injection that include APIs.

Baxter properly manages the APIs that it uses to help ensure they are not released into the environment during manufacturing. The company has developed proprietary processes to remove, destroy or deactivate some compounds though not required to do so by law. All other compounds that cannot be managed this way or through traditional wastewater systems are destroyed by incineration or another environmentally responsible manner.

Complementing these global processes, each Baxter facility determines the most effective and environmentally responsible method of protecting the public water supply and public health in accordance with company policies and local regulations. For example, Baxter’s major research and development facility in Round Lake, Illinois, United States, has an ongoing program launched in 1989 to evaluate its solution products, including those containing APIs, for their removal in wastewater treatment systems. The company shares this information with Baxter facilities around the world.

1	UNICEF, “Progress on Sanitation and Drinking Water”, 2010 Update.
2	The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Fourth Assessment Report.
3	One cubic meter equals 1,000 liters or 264 gallons.