Environmentally sound design
Novo Nordisk introduced a procedure in 2003 to promote the integration of environmental considerations into environmentally sound project design. This procedure covers the designing of new plants and buildings as well as the modification and expansion of existing production/supply plants. The procedure generally applies during the key design phases, which include conceptual design, basic design and detailed design. As part of due diligence on new production plants, an assessment of water availability and the effect of usage of required water is included in the decision process.
In accordance with Novo Nordisk's Environmental Management System, ISO 14001, the water sources used locally at production sites and the way waste water is discharged are evaluated and corrective actions are taken if issues are identified. No issues have been identified so far.
A case study
As an example, Novo Nordisk’s site in Kalundborg has integrated environmental consideration into the design phase during the building of a purification plant for insulin production. The environmental coordinators at the site engaged with the designers of the plant right from the conceptual phase of the project, and this led to the integration of a number of environmental considerations into the design of the buildings.
Environmental savings from this integration
Below are the resource savings achieved by the integration of environmental considerations into project design. These resource savings would not have been achieved in the absence of the environmental interventions. The estimated figures are based on comparison with ‘business-as-usual’.
| Resources | Business-as-usual reduction |
| Groundwater consumption | 16% |
| Water drawn from Lake Tissø | 55% |
| Electricity consumption | 8% |
| Steam consumption | 21% |
| District heat | Almost self-sufficient |
| CO2 emissions | 23% |
| Waste water | 19% |
Examples of environmental savings
1. Water consumption
Cooling towers consume a lot of water. As part of the environmental intervention, the last part of the cleaning in place (CIP) water is redirected to the cooling towers, thereby minimising the amount of fresh water drawn from Lake Tissø. The CIP water was usually discarded and sent to the waste water treatment plant.
Another intervention was the reuse of reject water from the reverse osmosis water treatment process. The introduction of an additional step in this process enables the reuse of some of the reject water from the reverse osmosis process.
In a new, similar purification plant there is a project investigating the possibility of reusing part of the desalinated water rejected from the process and sending it to the cooling towers, thereby further minimising the need for fresh water from Lake Tissø.
2. Energy
Ethanol is widely used in Novo Nordisk’s processes. Regenerating used ethanol in distillation columns makes it possible to minimise the consumption of ethanol, which is otherwise projected to increase – as it did in 2005 – due to the implementation of new production processes. Following an analysis of needs with regard to the ethanol concentration, it was possible to lower the number of distillation cycles to regenerate ethanol, thereby lowering the ethanol concentration by 8%. Savings in steam have been approx 4,275 tons, and the associated CO2 savings are approx 1,000 tons.
Recirculating part of the air in the last step of purification has also resulted in lower electricity consumption.
Financial savings
Based on the price of the resources, estimates have been made of the potential savings as a result of these environmental interventions.
The total annual financial savings resulting from the timely environmental interventions during the design phase of the purification plant are estimated to be 3 million Danish kroner. Due to these interventions, investment costs associated with clean steam have been saved totalling approx 4 million Danish kroner. In addition to the economic and environmental savings, it has been important to consider conditions such as reliable supplies, the choice of for example new technology, health and safety, complexity, and GXP issues.
This page has been assessed by PricewaterhouseCoopers as part of its assessment of Novo Nordisk’s statement that it reports ‘in accordance’ with GRI. Please refer to Audit and assurance for a full description of the nature of assurance offered.
