Material Reduction & Recycling / Waste Reduction

Material Reduction & Recycling

Recycling is an important way companies can protect the environment. We have active recycling programs underway across each of our manufacturing facilities, offices and labs. Many states within the U.S., as well as India and Ireland, have separate and distinct recycling requirements, with which we comply. We also instituted an internal global recycling program to encourage team members to identify ways in which they can improve recycling efforts within their own sites. In 2021, we increased our recycling by 86%, from 345 tons to 640 tons, the majority of which was plastics and corrugate materials.

Waste Reduction

In producing millions of products and their packaging, our sites naturally generate waste in the form of rejected components, printed materials or water-spent solvents. The goal is to limit waste and to repurpose it in sustainable ways. In 2021, we observed an increase in hazardous waste and non-hazardous waste due to the sale of two facilities. However, our team remains diligent in working to get this number down in 2022 and beyond.

To repurpose waste, our teams work with local organizations that specialize in turning waste into sustainable sources of energy. For example, our Chestnut Ridge plant sends 100% of non-hazardous waste to be incinerated. Approximately 90% of this incineration process is handled at a “waste-to-energy” facility, where steam from the combustion process operates a turbine-generator to produce electricity. To put this in perspective, incinerating just one ton of waste at an energy conversion facility can power the average American home for 3.2 months.¹

¹ What can you do with a megawatt-hour? - Freeing Energy

For more details on Endo’s efforts to reduce its overall environmental impact, please visit our Corporate Responsibility Report.