Lilly measures its performance in numerous environmental categories. We collect environmental performance data for several categories, including air emissions, water discharges, and waste generation/disposal. Our performance for various indicators is described below.
Air emissions
Lilly’s manufacturing and research operations engage in a variety of activities that cause air emissions. We are committed to using state-of-the-art emissions controls to achieve and exceed compliance with air quality requirements in the communities where we operate.
Pollutant |
2006 |
2005 |
2004 |
2003 |
2006-2003% |
| Ozone depleting substances | 3.6 |
3.8 |
5.1 |
2.7 |
33% |
| Carbon monoxide | 223 |
205 |
133 |
459 |
-51% |
| Nitrogen oxides | 1,102 |
1,265 |
1,485 |
1,507 |
-27% |
| Particulate matter | 420 |
412 |
511 |
562 |
-25% |
| Sulfur dioxide | 3,169 |
2,709 |
3,185 |
3,012 |
5% |
| Volatile organic compounds | 652 |
914 |
976 |
917 |
-29% |
| Chlorinated solvents | 26 |
23 |
25 |
28 |
-5% |
Note: Emission values are in metric tons.
Wastewater
The majority of Lilly's wastewater and the greatest amount of total chemical oxygen demand (COD) that our facilities discharge directly to surface water come from three bulk pharmaceutical manufacturing locations in Indiana, U.S., and Ireland. The Indiana manufacturing plants — Clinton Laboratories and Tippecanoe Laboratories — discharge to the Wabash River under permits issued by the Indiana Department of Environmental Management. Discharges from both plants are significantly below the allowable discharge limits for total COD. The Kinsale, Ireland, plant operates under an Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control license issued by the Irish EPA in 2005. It discharges to Kinsale Harbor.
2006 Water Discharge Data by Site |
Average discharge flow |
Average daily COD (total) |
COD Permit Limit |
| Clinton | 8.06 mgd 31 mld |
830 lb/day 376 kg/day |
15,599 lb/day 7.06 t/day |
| Tippecanoe | 7.6 mgd 29 mld |
1,582 lb/day 718 kg/day |
27,435 lb/day 12.4 t/day |
| Kinsale | 0.28 mgd 1.1mld |
135 lb/day 61 kg/day |
9,900 lb/day 4.49 t/day |
lb/day = pounds per day
kg/day = kilograms per day
mgd = million gallons per day
t/day = tons per day
mld = million liters per day
Waste Generation and Management
In 2005, we began tracking and reporting waste generation and management using categories developed for the pharmaceutical industry. We believe this provides us with the most useful information for managing our wastes. We have corporate and internal goals to reduce hazardous material purchases as a percentage of sales by 2010 through innovative process and facility design—ultimately reducing the quantity of waste we generate. We will reach these goals through:
- using green chemistry to assist in the design of our manufacturing processes
- increasing solvent recovery
- using waste minimization plans at all sites to reduce our use of materials and minimize waste.
In 2006, our total solid waste generation remained the same compared with the previous year and decreased by 7 percent normalized by sales. Hazardous waste generation decreased by 25 percent, and waste recycling increased by 43 percent.
Beneficial reuse, which increased by 21 percent in 2006, is an important waste management method for Lilly. For instance, several of our products are manufactured using fermentation, which uses microorganisms to make the active ingredient. The microorganisms eventually become non-toxic biological byproducts that we offer to farmers for use as fertilizer.
