Millipore Corporation
April 16, 2010
Millipore Recognized for Environmental Leadership
Bedford, Mass. – At a ceremony at the 80 Ashby Road facility today, representatives of the Toxics Use Reduction Act (TURA) Program and state legislators presented Millipore Corporation with an award to acknowledge the company’s environmental leadership.
Millipore, a leading provider of technologies, tools and services for the global life science industry that employs more than 400 people at its Bedford, Massachusetts, campus and nearly 1,200 people throughout the state, is one of 17 companies across the Commonwealth being recognized by the TURA Program as a “TURA 20th Anniversary Leader.” The awards and related facility tours are intended to showcase the environmental accomplishments of Massachusetts firms—their use of safer materials as well as their waste reductions and energy savings—since the Toxics Use Reduction Act was enacted in 1989.
“We selected Millipore for its deep commitment to sustainability as evidenced by its long-term use of Environmental Management Systems to minimize impacts on the environment,” said Pamela Eliason, industry research program manager of the Toxics Use Reduction Institute at UMass Lowell. “The company has been fully supportive of the TURA Program since its inception, and has gone beyond its focus on reducing toxics to consider other key environmental aspects – use of safer materials, renewable energy, design for sustainability, life cycle assessment, biodegradable packaging and more.”
A leader in the life sciences sector in Massachusetts
A leader in the life sciences sector in Massachusetts, Millipore has maintained both manufacturing and research and development in Bedford over the past 50 years, and today the site houses the company’s major corporate R&D center. Millipore has been a leader in sustainable production in the life sciences sector. In addition, the company has demonstrated a strong commitment to supporting higher education, from donating state-of-the-art equipment to the Bioprocessing Center at UMass Lowell to routinely hiring undergraduates and graduates from UMass Lowell as interns and permanent employees.
Since 1990, Millipore has reduced the amount of solvents used in its operations by up to 80 percent. The company implemented solvent recovery systems early in the 1990s, and has initiated innovative process design changes aimed at further reducing the use of a variety of chemicals as part of its toxics use reduction process
Millipore is currently implementing a new “Design for Sustainability” program
Millipore is currently implementing a new “Design for Sustainability” program that assesses the company’s impacts on the environment and on human health from the initial stages of product development. This approach promises to lead to further reductions in the use of toxic chemicals in the future.
“We are honored by this award, which acknowledges our commitment to the environment that is truly ingrained throughout our company,” said David Newman, senior director for global sustainability. “Our vision is to make Millipore the leader in developing sustainable solutions for the life sciences industry. That means looking at the materials that go into our products, how our products are packaged and even how they impact the environment at our customers’ locations."
The Toxics Use Reduction Act does not ban chemical use, but requires companies to evaluate the use of toxic chemicals and submit to the state usage reports as well as plans that assess the financial implications of switching to safer alternatives or making changes in production. Since 1989, Massachusetts companies voluntarily reduced toxic chemical use by 41 percent, waste by 71 percent and on-site releases by 91 percent.
About Millipore
Millipore (NYSE: MIL) is a Life Science leader providing cutting-edge technologies, tools, and services for bioscience research and biopharmaceutical manufacturing. As a strategic partner, we collaborate with customers to confront the world’s challenging human health issues. From research to development to production, our scientific expertise and innovative solutions help customers tackle their most complex problems and achieve their goals. Millipore Corporation is an S&P 500 company with more than 6,000 employees worldwide. For more information, visit www.millipore.com.
About the Toxics Use Reduction Act Program
Twenty years ago, the Massachusetts legislature passed landmark legislation—the Toxics Use Reduction Act (TURA). Today, the TURA Program is considered a model environmental policy by other states and countries. The three agencies below have provided training, grants, technical assistance and support to help companies reduce toxic chemical use and costs, improve health and safety and establish new green markets.
- Toxics Use Reduction Institute (TURI) at the University of Massachusetts Lowell. Provides education, training, and grants for Massachusetts industry and communities; sponsors research and demonstration sites on safer materials and technologies; provides policy analysis; and manages the TURA Science Advisory Board.
- Office of Technical Assistance & Technology (OTA). A non-regulatory agency within the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs that provides free, confidential, on-site technical and compliance consultations to Massachusetts businesses and institutions.
- Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP). Certifies Toxics Use Reduction (TUR) Planners, receives and reviews toxics use reports submitted by companies, provides guidance, takes enforcement actions, and collects chemical use data and makes it available to the public.