COMPANY SHOWCASE: West Pharmaceutical Services

SUSTAINABILITY

Citation: Walton S, “Company Showcase: West Pharmaceutical Services”. ONdrugDelivery, Issue 112 (Sep/Oct 2020), pp 60-61.

West believes that, as a global organisation, it has a duty and obligation to contribute to a sustainable future and that each of us, working together, can make a difference. Everything we do at West supports the company’s promise to make a meaningful difference – for communities, team members, customers and ultimately for patients who use West’s products to help them lead longer and healthier lives. West remains dedicated to its commitment to building a diverse and inclusive workforce, and to its sustainability efforts aimed at improving the communities in which we live and work. That unwavering focus has enabled West to make a positive impact in countless ways, including through its commitment to caring for the environment and its team members, as well as giving back to communities.

WEST’S COMMITMENT TO THE ENVIRONMENT

While West knows that sound environmental practices make good business sense, the underlying reasons behind the company’s commitment to them are the many benefits these practices provide to our communities. As a company whose stated mission is to improve patient health, it stands to reason that West is equally committed to a sustained investment in creating a healthier environment.

“As a company whose stated mission is to improve patient health, it stands to reason that West is equally committed to a sustained investment in creating a healthier environment.”

West’s sustainability programme is designed to target reductions in areas where the company feels it can make the greatest impact: greenhouse gas emissions, waste and increased recycling, as well as energy and water usage. Although West manages its programme at a global level, the company’s manufacturing sites are also working hard to make improvements in areas where they can make a difference in their community.

In late 2019, West entered a partnership to begin a test recycling programme, with the goal of implementing this programme in multiple West US manufacturing sites in 2020. The Jersey Shore, PA, site was the first to begin recycling 100% of its rubber scrap, and West plans to expand this initiative across its network of manufacturing sites by 2021. West’s six Contract Manufacturing sites recycled 98% of their waste in 2019. All of these efforts have resulted in a 15% recycling improvement over 2018, which decreases the company’s waste-to-landfill total to 48%, which is in line with the reductions it needs to obtain to achieve its five-year goal set for 2023.

Multiple energy improvement initiatives have also yielded positive results with respect to the goal of reducing West’s energy consumption, helping to shrink the company’s carbon footprint. West’s energy and CO₂ emissions have been reduced by 7.8% and 7.1% respectively since 2018 (Figure 1). West has improved its Carbon Disclosure Project rating by no less than 500 basis points each year since it began reporting in 2013 and achieved its highest ever rating in 2019. West has also increased its environmental score with Institutional Shareholder Services Inc (Rockville, MD, US), a leading provider of governance and responsible investment solutions to the global financial community. In addition, West has maintained its Gold Standard rating from EcoVadis (Paris, France), a leader in sustainability ratings, placing it in the top 5% of reporting companies.

Figure 1: West’s 2023 energy improvement and emissions reduction goals.

WEST’S COMMITMENT TO THE HEALTH AND SAFETY OF ITS TEAM MEMBERS

Although corporate responsibility is often mostly thought of as caring for the environment and giving back to local communities, West firmly believes that it also means taking responsibility for the health and safety of its team members, and working to safeguard them against work-related accidents and illnesses. West works hard to minimise the risk of incidents, injuries and exposure to health hazards, and is committed to designing and operating its facilities to provide a safe and healthy work environment.

This has never been more evident than in the current COVID-19 pandemic, where West’s priority since the beginning has been to care for the health and safety of its team members, and ensure that the company is implementing the most appropriate measures to create a safe working environment for team members while they are at work.

A critical component in maintaining a safe workplace begins with instilling and supporting a culture of safety – each team member must understand that they share the responsibility for workplace safety. In addition, a focus on proactive activities tied to leading indicators has helped build a culture of safety, helping to reduce and eliminate accidents. Such indicators include:

• Health and safety gemba walks
• Behaviour-based safety programmes
• Near-miss reporting
• Root-cause analysis
• Incident investigations.

West was pleased to celebrate several safety milestones in 2019, including one site which reached one million hours without any injuries, two sites that celebrated five years accident free and four sites with zero safety incidents.

WEST’S COMMITMENT TO GLOBAL AND LOCAL COMMUNITIES

Philanthropy is a cornerstone of West’s culture. It anchors the company’s purpose of standing by the side of its customers to help make a difference in the global community. Since its founding 97 years ago, West has fostered a culture of giving to support communities both local and global. The company’s One West Team embraces philanthropy every day by making generous donations of time and resources to contribute to a healthier world.

Figure 2: West team members volunteering to support the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

West targets philanthropic activities and local charities to those that align with its mission in the focus areas of children, people with disabilities, healthcare and education (with a focus on STEM – Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths). The company’s charitable giving framework is separated into three tiers:

• Corporate giving through direct charitable gifts made by West Pharmaceutical Services
• The Herman O West Foundation, an independently managed 501(c)(3) entity, which awards scholarships and matching gifts
• West without Borders,* a team member-led giving programme that has raised millions of dollars since its inception in 2004.

In 2019, corporate and foundation giving reached approximately US$2.1 million (£1.6 million), with more than 200 charities supported globally. West’s teams continue to answer the needs of communities (Figure 2), giving nearly US$565,000, a 9.5% increase over 2018. West looks forward to continuing to nurture its team members’ philanthropic spirit and implementing new philanthropic initiatives in support of local communities.

As a testament to its continued commitment to corporate responsibility, West was recently honoured to achieve several accolades, including being named as one of Newsweek’s “America’s Most Responsible Companies”, a “Top 50 ESG Company by Investor’s Business Daily”, and one of Barron’s “100 Most Sustainable Companies in America”.

West believes in playing a significant role in making the world a better place, and does so by manufacturing high-quality products, supporting and empowering its team members, and conducting responsible operations in the communities where it does business. West takes this responsibility very seriously and never underestimates the important role the company plays in the broader community.

West recognises there is always more work to do, and welcomes the challenge of continuing to improve on the impact it makes, both now and for future generations.

*West without Borders is not affiliated with Doctors Without Borders^®, which is a registered service mark of Bureau International de Médecins San Frontières.

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