Investor Presentaiton
CH
Novo Nordisk Annual Report 2023
Introducing Novo Nordisk
Strategic Aspirations
Risks
Management
Consolidated statements
Additional information
180.0
Injection pens' components
that have been discarded
from our production lines in
Hillerød, Denmark.
ENVIRONMENTAL
Reducing our
plastic footprint
Minimising the use of plastic derived from fossil fuels is a
priority for Novo Nordisk - and a significant challenge given the
rapid growth in demand for our medical injection devices. We
currently manufacture more than 800 million pre-filled plastic
pens every year, equivalent to some 14,000 tonnes of plastic.
As the number of patients we serve continues to grow, those
numbers will rise markedly unless we take decisive action.
We are tackling our plastic challenge on multiple fronts, with
a threefold 'reduce-change-avoid' approach. This includes
reducing plastic consumption by converting to reusable
devices, changing to the use of non-virgin-fossil plastics in our
device production and harnessing recycling to avoid plastic
ending up in landfill.
"In 2023 we established the world's
first industry solution for recycling
injection pens in Denmark."
The task is not simple. When it comes to recycling, for example,
used injection pens cannot be dealt with in the same way as
other household recycling because they are classified as
medical waste, which most countries are not equipped to
handle. To address this challenge, we have expanded a series
of pioneering take-back programmes across Denmark, the UK,
France and Brazil, and in 2023 we established the world's first
industry solution for recycling injection pens in Denmark.
Pharmaceutical companies Lilly, Sanofi and Merck have all
joined the initiative, and we now share a goal of recycling 25%
of the pens distributed by all four companies in Denmark within
the first 12 months.
Another important initiative involves rethinking medicine
delivery by switching from disposable to reusable devices -
some with an expected lifespan of up to 5 years. Over the past
year, we have converted selected products in a number of
countries and we expect to switch more in 2024. We are also
steadily building device durability into the development of new
medicines and expect that a trend from daily to once-weekly
administration for many products will contribute to reduced
plastic use per patient in the long term.
In addition, we are exploring more sustainable ways to produce
plastic. A good example is a new agreement signed by Novo
Nordisk, alongside the LEGO Group, to buy e-methanol from
European Energy when the world's first large-scale production
plant for the commodity starts up in Denmark in 2024. The
e-methanol - made from renewable electricity, water and
captured biogenic CO2 - will help us to create lower-carbon
plastics for use in our medical devices.
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