Baxter works with thousands of suppliers in more than 100 countries to secure the raw materials, components, services, goods and transportation capabilities required for the company’s operations worldwide. As part of this global business community, Baxter is committed to working with its suppliers to improve their environmental performance, purchase products with reduced environmental impacts and minimize transportation-related emissions.

To better understand Baxter's suppliers' environmental performance, in 2008 the company conducted a supplier sustainability survey of approximately 100 of its major U.S. suppliers. Combined, these suppliers represented $2.2 billion or 50 percent of Baxter’s total supplier spend.

Green Procurement

To improve the environmental impacts of its purchasing, Baxter has begun embedding sustainability into its formal relationships with suppliers. In 2008 in the United States and Canada, Baxter modified its request for proposal document to cover information about suppliers' sustainability commitment, initiatives and performance, and also added sustainability language to its standard supplier agreement. The company plans to incorporate that language into similar documents in all other locations in 2009. Baxter also will include sustainability criteria in its global supplier scorecards for direct suppliers.1

In early 2009, Baxter launched an Environmentally Preferable Purchasing Policy. It covers consumables, which are mainly office supplies, and also contributes to LEED ®2 certification for existing buildings. The initial scope of the policy is the company’s Deerfield, Illinois, United States, headquarters, and Baxter plans to broaden the scope to all Northern Illinois facilities in the future.

One area of focus is the company’s car fleet. In the 2008-2009 lease cycle, Baxter selected cars with a higher advertised fuel efficiency than the ones it was replacing. However, the measured fuel efficiency actually decreased. Baxter is determining how to improve this performance in coming years to meet its 2015 goal. Baxter has efforts related to its fleet outside the United States as well.

Product Transportation

Baxter works to reduce emissions related to the transportation of its products to customers worldwide. In the United States, Baxter requires all of its surface transport providers to participate in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency SmartWay SM program.

Shifting from more to less energy-intensive modes of transport such as truck to rail also reduces emissions. Baxter has increased the use of intermodal transport (rail and truck combined as opposed to truck only) in the United States every year since 2005, reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 530 metric tons carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) in 2008. In Europe, shifting from truck to other modes of transport reduced GHG emissions by more than 1,580 metric tons CO2e in 2008. Baxter plans to report transport-related emissions globally in the future.

2015 GOALS

  • Reduce the carbon footprint of Baxter's car fleet by 20% from 2007 baseline.3
  • Incorporate green principles into Baxter's purchasing program with its top 100 suppliers (by spend).

1 “Direct” suppliers are those that provide raw materials and components used in Baxter products.

2 The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System is a voluntary, consensus-based rating system for developing high-performance, sustainable buildings. See www.usgbc.org for more detail.

3 Updated baseline year due to improved data availability.