Waste, Water and Packaging

At CSL, we recognise that responsible management and efficient use of natural resources is key to our sustainable growth and our ability to enable efficient and reliable supply of our life-saving medicines.

CSL’s objective is to reduce the amount of waste that is generated throughout the production and use of all products; to reuse and recycle waste as far as possible; and to dispose of the residual waste responsibly. The amount of waste produced and how it is handled varies between CSL’s different facilities according to production processes and available disposal options.

A large part of the waste stream is made up of glass, plastics, cardboard, wooden pallets and other types of packaging, which is necessary for ensuring product safety of pharmaceuticals. Disposal of packaging presents particular challenges for pharmaceutical companies because packaging such as single-use plastics, glass syringes and vials are not recyclable and must be disposed of in a safe manner.

CSL’s operations in Europe dispose of almost all waste by recycling or incineration. In Australia, CSL is a signatory to the Australian Packaging Covenant and reports regularly on plans and progress to minimise waste. There is also a wide variety of waste recycling programs at our US facilities. However, more can be done to reduce waste to landfill across our Australian and US operations and this remains a focus area for CSL in the near term.

CSL is continuing to identify and implement methods to reduce the amount of materials used for the packaging and distribution of its products as detailed following.

• The new function, Packaging Innovation, is dedicated to evaluating and planning the introduction of sustainable materials.
• The use of sustainable materials in packaging development is prescribed in our procedures.
• Size reduction of current packaging is also taken into consideration when current packs are adapted.
• Paper patient information leaflets have now been completely removed for our Behring products on the Japanese market. The leaflet removal will now continue for other markets and products from the whole of the CSL organisation.