Operational Sustainability

Climate Change and Energy Management 

Climate change is the defining environmental issue of our time, threatening lives and livelihoods across the planet. To do our part in addressing this global challenge, Avantor developed an energy and emissions reduction strategy that invests in efficiency projects and alternative energy sources. To ensure accountability and track progress, we started with an initial target to reduce our operational (Scope 1 and Scope 2) GHG emissions by 15% by 2025, compared to a 2019 baseline.

We are proud to report that we met this target two years ahead of schedule, achieving a 16.7% reduction of our Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions from 2019 to 2023. This achievement involved assessing our manufacturing facilities’ energy intensity and GHG emissions, developing an ​​​​action plan based on those assessments, and implementing site-specific energy efficiency and process optimization initiatives. Our cross-functional Environmental Task Force, created in 2022, oversees our emissions reduction strategy, including setting internal annual targets, tracking projects and training and educating associates.

More than 40 projects implemented across our manufacturing sites and distribution centers contributed to the reductions, including 20 completed in 2023. These included infrastructure improvements and energy efficiency initiatives, such as HVAC upgrades, steam system upgrades, and relocating operations to more efficient facilities. These efforts helped us to reduce our 2023 Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions by 2,189 MT CO2e, a 4.9% decrease from 2022.

Additionally, as a result of our progress, in 2023 we established new science-based targets for 2030 and submitted these for review and verification by the Science Based Targets initiative. In alignment with the latest climate science, we committed to reduce our absolute Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 50% and our absolute Scope 3 emissions by 25% from a 2020 baseline.

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Water Reduction and Reuse

We recognize Avantor’s responsibility to carefully manage water usage, particularly in areas of ​​high water stress. Currently, at least 50% of the world’s population, some four billion people, live under conditions of high water stress for at least one month of the year, according to new data from the WRI’s Aqueduct Water Risk Atlas. An area faces high stress when it uses 40% or more of the available water supply and extreme stress when it uses at least 80% of its water supply.

To help address this global challenge, we launched a multi-year water management strategy in 2022, beginning by identifying 22 Avantor sites in areas with ​​high water stress. In 2023, each site analyzed its water usage, established a baseline and identified potential areas for reductions.

Several sites have begun implementing water saving projects, such as replacing or repairing steam traps to reduce the amount of water lost to the atmosphere.

Landfill Diversion and Waste Management

We continue to reduce the amount of waste sent to landfills by optimizing Avantor’s production processes and reuse and recycling capabilities. Globally, our facilities have established – and closely monitor and measure – procedures for minimizing waste generation, reusing and recycling materials and meeting local waste management requirements.

Waste reduction efforts in 2023 focused on decreasing the amount of hazardous waste—defined as flammable, corrosive, reactive or toxic waste—sent to landfills. For Avantor, potential sources of hazardous waste include expired chemicals, overproduction during the manufacturing process and materials that do not meet ​​specifications. By minimizing the amount of hazardous waste generated and exploring opportunities to reuse the remaining hazardous waste, the facilities we monitored in 2023 reduced hazardous waste disposal by approximately 50% for the final nine months of the year, compared to the combined averages for the full years 2021 and 2022.