Sustainability At B. Braun
Sustainability in Healthcare is Our Responsibility
For more than 180 years, sustainability has been a corporate value of B. Braun and the basis for our actions: As a good citizen, we sustainably utilize our resources economically, environmentally and socially to follow our vision of protecting and improving people´s health around the world. We strive to fully integrate sustainability into all we do: in our products, our internal processes and our social commitments.
Sustainable Manufacturing
Sustainable Manufacturing
B. Braun continually looks for innovative, sustainable manufacturing methods. B. Braun recycles nearly 100 percent of all recyclable materials using manufacturing processes that save energy and re-circulate and re-use cooling water. B. Braun recycles glass, cans, plastic, soft plastic (LDPE), scrap plastic, ethylene glycol, food waste and old corrugated cardboard.
Our Pennsylvania manufacturing facility utilizes the services of local WTE (waste to energy) and EFW (energy from waste) facilities to incinerate waste and non-recyclable materials for the purpose of energy recovery. These companies may use B. Braun's material as an alternate solid fuel source in the cement manufacturing process or for the purpose of steam generation for the production of electricity. Both methods offer a safe, technologically advanced means of waste disposal while also generating clean, renewable energy, which reduces greenhouse gas emissions and the dependency on fossil fuels while supporting aggressive landfill avoidance goals.
Reducing Medical Waste
Reducing Medical Waste
Diverting from landfills
- When empty, B. Braun’s EXCEL® IV containers and overwraps weigh 28%-49% percent less than comparable PVC containers with overwraps, ultimately contributing less waste to landfills.2
- Annually, B. Braun saves our landfills by recycling an average of 50,000 gallons of glycol and 1.45 million pounds of paper materials — the equivalent of 12,325 trees.3
Recycling Material
- The Allentown, PA and Bethlehem, PA sites recycled 3,710,600 lbs., or 1,855 tons, of waste in 2014.
- The Irvine, CA site recycled 7,346,400 lbs., or 3,332 tons, of waste in 2014.
- Other companies may use B. Braun's waste as an alternate solid fuel source in the cement manufacturing process or for the purpose of steam generation for the production of electricity.
Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions
- B. Braun IV containers produce up to 30 times less hydrogen chloride (HCl) gas than PVC products and release zero dioxin when incinerated.
- Between the Pennsylvania and California landfill-free sites, it is projected that over 5,600 metric tons, or 12,528,000 pounds, of waste will be recycled or converted into renewable energy each year. This will reduce approximately 12,100 metric tons of harmful carbon dioxide from entering Earth’s atmosphere.4
Green Manufacturing
Leader in Green Manufacturing
For B. Braun, going green is not a new trend but a core value we’ve embraced throughout our history. In fact, B. Braun is a worldwide leader in the research and development of green manufacturing processes in the North America and around the world.
- The B. Braun Irvine, California facility has won a WRAP award for waste reduction efforts more than 11 times in the past 20 years.5
- A dedicated Environmental Health & Safely team coupled with enthusiastic and integrated employee education focuses on embracing, employing and elevating the company’s sustainability objectives.
- In 2014, all B. Braun facilities in Pennsylvania and California achieved land-fill free status, meaning all manufacturing related waste (non-hazardous) generated from routine manufacturing operations is reused, recycled or converted to energy.
Sustainable Development Goals
Sustainable Development Goals
Sustainable action has been one of our core values for decades. As a family company, we have a long-term perspective. We are also guided by the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) of the United Nations.4
DEHP & PVC Awareness
DEHP & PVC Awareness in Healthcare
More than four decades ago, B. Braun recognized the environmental and patient risks posed by products containing PVC and DEHP. Medical devices containing these chemicals pose potential health hazards to people during medical care and to the environment during waste disposal. As a result, B. Braun was the first medical device manufacturer to remove these harmful substances from many of its products, eliminating PVC and DEHP from IV solution containers.
In the past five years, B. Braun has spent $500 million in developing innovative ways to offer products not made with PVC and DEHP. Additionally, we actively support policies calling for the industry-wide reduction of these chemicals in medical devices in an effort to raise awareness and encourage change. Today, we remain the industry leader in processes, products, and green manufacturing.
B. Braun continues to lead the way in offering the only full line of IV solutions in containers not made with PVC or DEHP.
Learn more about some of B. Braun’s infusion therapy products that are not made with PVC or DEHP.
Sustainability Reports
References:
- Medical devices containing PVC and DEHP pose potential health hazards to humans exposed to them during medication administration. They can also cause significant environmental harm during waste disposal.
- Data available upon request from B. Braun Medical Inc.
- EPA 2008 Research. https://archive.epa.gov/epawaste/conserve/smm/wastewise/web/html/factoid.html
- B. Braun 2015 Sustainability Report
- Waste Reduction Awards Program (WRAP), WRAP Winners Listing for 2011