Waste
Management
& Plastic Use

Waste Management

Waste reduction and recycling are key components of our overall environmental strategy. A comprehensive waste mapping program was undertaken to ensure that we know the full chain of custody of all waste types generated across our manufacturing sites and have evidence to confirm that all waste service providers hold the appropriate permits and licenses.

We have completed a process to standardise the collection of waste data across all our sites with the purpose of creating a baseline for the establishment of targets to reduce waste and increase recycling globally.

The amount of waste generated per employee has reduced by 11% from 2021 to 2022.

Our global headquarters in Craigavon, Northern Ireland sends zero waste to landfill.

Solvent recovery has been a key focus over the last year and this combined with a number of other initiatives helps us towards our contribution to the circular economy.

Plastic Use

Almac is a member of the Responsible Plastic Management (RPM) Programme as an engaged partner. We are committed to working with RPM to assess the purchase, use and disposal of plastics at our sites, and minimise the associated impacts on the environment.

Almac Sciences manages a recycling loop for cleaning solvents used in chemical manufacturing processes

Almac uses approximately 155MT of methanol and 85MT of acetone annually. Learning from our experiences at other sites we knew that recycling of solvents was possible, so we undertook a review of our processes in Craigavon.

A new process was established to segregate the cleaning solvents preventing the need to bulk-up waste. A new solvent labelling process was also established to identify drums for recycling.

In addition, our environmental team now separate the cleaning solvent waste material for discrete collection from Almac’s waste contractor. Additional testing on this material is then conducted by the waste contractor and any materials that meet specified criteria regarding solvent pH and water content are recycled for use in further external processes, e.g., fuel for burning furnaces on concrete plants or process solvents are in less regulated industries.

The data shows that without the recovery process Almac would have created an additional 1,300 drums of solvent waste in the last 12 months. This amount equates to over 200MT of solvent waste. In the same period and as a byproduct of improving our solvent waste streams we have also witnessed a 35% reduction in the amount of corrosive waste we have produced.

Would you like to discuss how Galen can help you?

If you would like to explore how our expertise could add value to your product, or for an initial discussion about partnering with us, please contact our team.

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