We believe our ability to continue to innovate and create value for patients now and in the future will increasingly depend on our positive contributions to environmental sustainability.

For this reason, we are continuously assessing how we can embed sustainable practices to discover, develop, and deliver solutions for patients in the greenest ways possible. This Earth Day, join us in celebrating the importance of protecting our planet for generations to come and see how we’re working to do our part.

Cutting carbon emissions is central to our green strategy, and our ambition is to become carbon neutral by 2030. A few things we’re doing to achieve this goal include:
 

• Reducing our energy consumption at production sites to reduce our CO2 output. Since 2015, UCB reduced overall energy consumption by 27 percent, and usage of gas and electricity was reduced by 29 and 26 percent, respectively.
• Our U.S. headquarters in Atlanta is powered by 100 percent green energy generated by solar/wind renewable sources. In addition, we offer electric car charging stations in our parking lots.
• In our laboratories in Boston, timers have been installed in lab instruments (i.e., heating blocks) to reduce energy waste. In addition, bulk ordering of consumables is combined with other labs to reduce delivery trips and therefore CO2 emissions.
• At our office in Seattle, employees are encouraged and many choose to ride bicycles to work instead of driving.
• Employees use technology to join long-distance meetings through teleconference and to telecommute several days a week, which reduces aircraft and automobile emissions and fuel consumption.

We’re also making efforts across our locations worldwide to conserve water. Water is a precious resource and plays a vital role in our production process and in climate control for our products. Water consumption at UCB facilities decreased in 2018 and we will continue to strive for greater efficiency.

Across our sites, we are also reducing waste in a number of ways:
 

• This year alone, we’ve saved more than 9,000 bottles by using refillable water bottle stations at our Atlanta office.
• Using eco-friendly paper products in our dining areas and non-disposable coffee mugs, dishes, silverware, and glasses. As well as utilizing recycling streams and compactors for recyclable waste.  
• Confidential paper documents are collected, shredded, and recycled.
• In our labs, we’ve switched from single-use plastic collection tubes to washable, reusable collection blocks, which reduced our waste production from these instruments by nearly half. In addition, pipette tips are collected and recycled and compostable gloves are used.  

Advancing our green strategy is critical to enable us to continue to deliver value for patients around the world. We’re proud to be a part of the global community seeking to protect and promote business practices that support environmental sustainability.

For more, check out our 2018 Integrated Annual Report.