Genzyme gets wise about waste
Percentage of recycled materials has more than doubled since 2001 at its Framingham operations
By lawrence d. maloney
For 25 years, scientists at Genzyme have waged war on diseases ranging from cancer to rare genetic disorders. For 5 years, the company has fought another intensive battle, this one against the mountain of solid waste that piles up each day all across its operations.
As part of an overall corporate environmental campaign that ranges from "green buildings" to ridesharing to conservation projects, Genzyme’s growing Framingham operation in particular has built an impressive track record in the reduction and recycling of solid wastes.
The key: Partnering with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in its voluntary WasteWise program, which since 1994 has helped more than 1,300 companies, institutions, and other organizations curb the flood of solid materials that get dumped into landfills.
"Before we joined WasteWise in 2002, we were recycling less than 20 percent of waste from the four Framingham buildings initially selected for the program," notes Joan Boegel, associate director of Genzyme’s Environmental Affairs Department. "Last year, we recycled nearly 40 percent."
In the process, Genzyme Framingham won the EPA’s coveted WasteWise Partner of the Year Award in 2004, one of many environmental honors that the Massachusetts-based biotech company has earned since the start of the decade.
Taking stock of the problem
Although a secure shredding / recycling operation for confidential documents had been in place in Framingham for years, becoming a WasteWise partner created the structure for a much more comprehensive program. The first step, as Boegel explains it, was a thorough assessment of the waste stream from the four target buildings enrolled in the initial 3-year effort.
A summer intern, funded by
the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP), helped jump start that assessment process, which included walkthroughs of facilities and discussions with employees on the types of wastes generated, how those materials were being managed, and what could be done to do the job better. Boegel and her team went so far as to accompany the firm’s waste management vendor, E.L. Harvey, to their Westboro transfer station, where they analyzed wastes to see how much of it should have been recycled.
At the end of the assessment process, the Environmental Department got together with employees from the target buildings and formulated three-year goals for recycling, waste reduction, and buying recycled content, as required by WasteWise guidelines.
Vital to this effort was the establishment of the Framingham Recycling Center at the 74 New York Ave. warehousing facility. The operation, headed by Senior Environmental Associate Don Crookes, employs two full-time day porters who collect waste each day from participating buildings and truck it to the center. Among the materials collected: batteries, cardboard, cell phones, glass, paper, plastics, toner cartridges, and Tyvek lab coats, coverall and shoe covers. In addition, grass clippings and landscape wastes are sent to a composting facility.
At the recycling center, workers segregate the materials and use compactors on cardboard and plastics. E.L. Harvey takes the compacted materials to its transfer site for eventual delivery to processors. Another vendor, Shred It, routinely sends a truck to the recycling center to shred waste paper and then transport the material to processors. As for other collected materials, Genzyme sells Tyvek garments to an Indiana company that refurbishes them for non clean-room uses. Proceeds go to environmental causes in Massachusetts, such as the Chelsea Creek Restoration Partnership. Similarly, Framingham schools reap the benefits from used toner cartridges and cell phones that Genzyme donates to FundingFactory, which awards points for such donations that can be used to buy school equipment.
Genzyme also keeps careful track of all wastes collected. Porters record the source, type and quantity of the materials they have gathered on log sheets for entry into an electronic database, which shows both the type and weight of waste collected from each building. This data is essential both for the annual reports that Genzyme Framingham files each year to the EPA, as well as for evaluations sent to managers and employees of each participating building. "This can be a wakeup call to employees in buildings that may not being doing as well," notes Erin Emlock of Genzyme public affairs.
Clear signs of progress
At a time when Genzyme has recorded consistent annual gains in production and sales in becoming a $2.7 billion worldwide company, the WasteWise campaign has helped Genzyme Framingham trim solid wastes from 1,522,157 pounds in 2001 to 1,304,413 pounds in 2005.
In the first year that Genzyme Framingham submitted its report to the EPA, the company earned an Honorable Mention in WasteWise’s awards program. Then, in 2004, it won a WasteWise Partner of the Year Award.
Says Greg Cooper, an official with MassDEP’s Bureau of Waste Prevention: "We hope other industries will follow Genzyme’s lead and recognize that a clean environment translates into good business sense for Massachusetts."
Genzyme’s recycling center costs the firm more than $90,000 a year to operate, notes Rick Mattila, director of Environmental Affairs, though he adds that the company does realize savings from reduced hauling costs. Still, the company spends more than it is saving on this effort.
"It’s not a money-making operation," says Mattila, "and companies should realize that going in. But clearly it is the right thing to do."
Genzyme’s success with WasteWise in its first four buildings in Framingham has prompted the firm to expand the program for the 2006-2009 period to
the remaining eight buildings in Framingham, as well as to facilities in Cambridge, Allston and Westboro.
How far can the company go on recycling? "In theory, you would like to recycle 100 percent of your wastes," observes Mattila, "but much depends on whether or not there is a market for it."
Clearly, Genzyme has taken environmentalism to a whole new level. "In the early days, it was all about complying with government regulations," says Boegel. "Now, our efforts focus on voluntary programs and continuous improvement in every area of environmental performance—recycling, conservation, and green buildings."
Larry Maloney can be reached at lmaloney@wbjournal.com
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