Boehringer Ingelheim has transitioned to renewable energy to power its largest U.S. manufacturing site, in St. Joseph, Mo., as part of a broader company commitment to environmental sustainability in the United States and around the world.
Wind energy now provides all electricity used at the site, where Boehringer Ingelheim employs nearly 1,000 people who manufacture vaccines for horses, pigs, cattle and other animals. Boehringer Ingelheim and its predecessor companies have manufactured animal health products in St. Joseph for more than a century.
The company recently signed a 10-year contract with Evergy Inc., which serves about 1.6 million customers in Kansas and Missouri, to buy energy generated at a wind farm in Kansas for its site in St. Joseph. The change will reduce carbon emissions at the site by 76 percent as part of a broader company commitment to environmental sustainability nationwide.
In North Brunswick, N.J., a Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health research and development site has transitioned to renewable energy by purchasing green power. A poultry-vaccine manufacturing plant in Gainesville, Ga., is on pace to become Boehringer Ingelheim’s first major U.S. production site to go carbon neutral.
A company site in Barceloneta, Puerto Rico, plans to reduce its carbon footprint by about 30 percent a year by using natural gas to generate electricity. That process will create steam and hot water that the site will use in its everyday operations.
Boehringer Ingelheim’s U.S. headquarters in Ridgefield, Conn., which employs about 2,500 people, transitioned to renewable energy last year.
In St. Joseph, Gainesville and Ridgefield, the company has taken a variety of other steps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, installing LED lights and solar panels and implementing numerous projects to increase energy efficiency at several U.S. sites.
“From reducing our carbon footprint to reducing the amount of electricity and water we use, we are dedicated to providing a more sustainable future for the people and animals we serve and the communities where we live and work,” said Jean-Michel Boers, President and CEO of Boehringer Ingelheim USA Corp.
Renewable-energy use has tripled in the United States in the last 20 years to account for 11 percent of U.S. energy consumption, the U.S. Energy Information Administration says. Renewable energy plays an important role in reducing the greenhouse-gas emissions that contribute to climate change.
“Boehringer Ingelheim is committed to making a positive impact on the environment now and into the future,” said Randolph Legg, President and Head of the Commercial Business at Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health USA Inc. “As a company that thinks in generations, we know that an investment in environmental sustainability will pay dividends for years to come.”
