Environmental Performance At-a-Glance

In 2011, Baxter continued working toward its 2015 sustainability goals, and also performed for the first time against its new environmental, health and safety (EHS) goals for 2015. As the graph below indicates, Baxter is on-target to meet or exceed its 2015 energy usage, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and water usage goals. However, the company lost significant ground in 2011 toward its total waste-reduction goal due to a product recall in Europe. Baxter considers this performance to be unique to this reporting year and believes it will deliver stronger results in 2012 due to its waste reduction program and initiatives. Baxter failed to make progress toward its environmental incidents-reduction goal due to wastewater exceedances at two locations in Europe.

Energy Usage

Baxter continued to make solid progress toward its 2015 goal to reduce energy usage by 30% indexed to revenue, compared to 2005, achieving a 24% decrease through 2011. Energy usage indexed to revenue decreased by 5% in 2011 compared to 2010. Baxter maintains an aggressive energy-management program, grounded in "Lean" energy standards that manufacturing facilities companywide continue to implement.

Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Baxter decreased GHG emissions by 34% indexed to revenue through 2011, compared to 2005, on its way to achieving its goal of a 45% reduction by 2015. The company will drive continual performance improvement through ongoing programs and projects in energy conservation, installing cogeneration systems at select locations, sourcing renewable energy and purchasing emissions credits and offsets.

Total Waste

During 2011, Baxter's operations generated 70,700 metric tons of total waste, up from 56,100 metric tons in 2005. This represents a 26% increase in absolute terms and an 11% decrease indexed to revenue. The major contributing factor was a product recall in Europe that resulted in approximately 9,400 metric tons of waste in 2011, about 13% of the global total. Excluding the waste associated with this one-time event, the absolute increase from 2005 would have been 9%, with a 23% decrease indexed to revenue. Due to renewed efforts to reduce plastics waste as well as other facility-based initiatives, Baxter still expects to meet its 2015 goal to reduce total waste by 30%, indexed to revenue, compared to 2005.

Water Usage

Baxter has nearly achieved its 2015 goal to reduce water usage by 35% indexed to revenue, compared to 2005, realizing a 33% decrease through 2011. The company attributes this to senior management focus on and accountability for reducing facility water usage, insights gained by conducting water balances and creating value stream maps, and heightened attention on water during energy assessments. Challenges moving forward include a diminished number of viable water-saving projects (as many have been implemented during the past several years) and the relatively low rate of financial return for those initiatives.

Environmental Incidents

Baxter continued to experience an increase in environmental compliance incidents in 2011, totaling 74. As a result, the company is further from achieving its 2015 goal to reduce environmental compliance incidents by 75%, compared to 2005. Most of the incidents in 2011 occurred at two facilities, Lessines, Belgium, and Sabiñanigo, Spain, that experienced ongoing compliance challenges related to slightly elevated wastewater discharge readings for temperature and flow, respectively. In addition to initiating comprehensive corrective actions to address the issues at these two sites, the company used these incidents to increase awareness and emphasis on environmental compliance during the year.

Environmental Financial Statement

The following table describes environmental income, savings and cost avoidance realized in 2011 from activities completed during the year, along with environmental program costs. For the first time since Baxter began producing the EFS, the company did not realize net positive environmental savings or cost avoidance in 2011. Costs related to waste management were the main contributing factor.

Environmental Income, Savings and Cost Avoidance, 2011 (Dollars in Millions)
Energy Use	$1.2
Total Waste Generation	(9.4)
Recycling Income	5.1
Water Use	(0.2)
Total Environmental Income, Savings and Cost Avoidance	$(3.3)

Environmental Program Costs, 2010 (Dollars in Millions)
Basic Program Costs	$21.5
Remediation, Waste and Other Response Costs	10.0
Total Environmental Program Costs	$31.5