Tackling Global Challenges
Creating a culture of responsibility

Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany is working with policy makers, industries and nonprofit organizations around the world to tackle the toughest societal challenges – from global climate change to broad access to health. And it’s making extraordinary progress in advancing solutions, as detailed in its newly released Corporate Responsibility Report 2014.

As the company’s life science business, we’re proud of our contributions to this progress. Over the past two years we’ve launched major initiatives in the areas of climate change, product sustainability, waste management and community and employee engagement. Of note:

• We achieved a 13-percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, exceeding our target by three percent and making a major contribution to Merck’s overall goal of a 20-percent reduction by 2020.
• As part of our commitment to renewable energy, we completed construction of a Biomass Heat Plant at our manufacturing facility in Jaffrey, New Hampshire, which will replace more than 400,000 gallons of oil per year and significantly reduce the facility’s carbon dioxide emissions.
• We integrated design for sustainability criteria into our product development process, to reduce the environmental impact of our products throughout their life cycle and help our customers achieve their own sustainability goals
• In response to the Ebola outbreak, we provided lab water systems to hospitals and clinics in several West African countries and began fast-tracking orders for critical single-use products to support treatments in development by key customers.
• We launched a global CR ambassador network — employees representing our sites around the world who serve as champions for social and environmental efforts and engage coworkers in local CR initiatives.

To learn more:

• Corporate Responsibility Report 2014
• Merck Corporate Responsibility