Takeda: first pharmaceutical company in Belgium to obtain the "Lean & Green" label

May 24, 2022

Lessines, May 25, 2022 – Takeda Belgium has been awarded the "Lean & Green" label at the event organized by "Logistics in Wallonia" which brings together players in the Transport, Logistics and Mobility sector in Wallonia. This label rewards the efforts made by the Lessines site to produce plasma-based therapies for the treatment of rare diseases, in order to reduce its CO2 emissions throughout its supply chain.

First biopharmaceutical company labeled "Lean & Green" in Belgium

The European environmental certification program "Lean & Green" aims to support logistics and transport companies in reducing their CO2 emissions by 20% over a maximum period of five years. This label is important because it rewards all the initiatives taken over the past several years by the Takeda Lessines site to reduce its carbon footprint throughout its supply chain.

Laurent Vanhoutte, Head of Supply Chain at Takeda, explains: “From the logistics at the Lessines site to the worldwide distribution of our finished products, all these elements are analyzed in this labeling process. As a company active in the biopharmaceutical field, it is natural to have a lot of requirements regarding quality, safety, temperature, lead time, etc. for the materials we’re handling. Nevertheless, we have been able to find solutions to meet all these prerequisites while significantly reducing CO2 emissions. Being a pioneer in the Belgian biopharmaceutical sector is a great feat and I sincerely hope that other companies will follow suit. It is only together, in all our daily actions, whether at home or at work, that we will be able to minimize the impacts of global warming for current and future generations.”

Reducing the ecological footprint throughout the supply chain

Concretely, Takeda Belgium has implemented several initiatives to reduce its logistics footprint such as:

The replacement of part of the transport of finished products, which is currently done by air, by sea. Since 2018, the air shipments have been reduced by 21%.
The construction of a zero-carbon warehouse in Lessines. This warehouse will make it possible to centralize all the storage capacity on a single site and thus avoid 330,000 km of truck trips per year, a reduction of 1700 tons of CO2 per year.
The use of an 'eco-combi' truck between Lessines and Takeda's main warehouse located off-site. This vehicle allows a 20% reduction in CO2 emissions.
The complete replacement of wooden pallets to reusable pallets – made of 100% recycled and recyclable plastic, which makes it possible to reuse 11. 000 pallets per year.
Reuse of storage components used throughout the supply chain.
The reduction of road transport needs through:
- The optimization of transport flows related to waste disposal
- A new storage building for waste

Sustainability at the heart of Takeda Belgium's activities

In just a few short years, Takeda has risen to the forefront of sustainability. This is how the Takeda Lessines site is the first biopharmaceutical site that will reduce its freshwater consumption by 90% by 2023 with the ambition to be zero carbon by 2030.

Geoffrey Pot, General Manager Operations at the Lessines site, said: "Sustainability at Takeda is not limited to reducing our carbon footprint in terms of transport and logistics. We want to reduce our ecological footprint in all our activities at the Lessines site. And this involves reusing the water we consume, but also better waste management, the promotion of biodiversity on and off site, the use of renewable energies, as well as raising awareness of an ecologically responsible attitude. These are just a few examples to demonstrate that sustainability is a top priority in all our strategies and in the management of our day-to-day operations.”

About Takeda’s Global Commitment to Environmental Sustainability

As a science-driven organization, Takeda remains committed to robust environmental sustainability goals aligned with current climate science. Takeda achieved carbon neutrality across its value chain for fiscal year 2019 and has remained carbon neutral. Building on this milestone, Takeda aims to reduce 40 percent of its emissions from its operations by 2025 and has committed to being carbon net-zero by 2035. To achieve its climate-related goals, Takeda is focused on increasing renewable energy usage and driving energy efficiencies while also looking beyond its own operations and working with suppliers to help them to establish science-based reduction targets and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Takeda also has natural resource conservation commitments to support water stewardship, responsible waste management and biodiversity and has incorporated sustainability principles in its stages of product development to minimize the impact of future products throughout its life cycle. For more information on Takeda’s commitments to environmental sustainability for a brighter future, visit: https://www.takeda.com/corporate-responsibility/reporting-on-sustainability/planet/

About Takeda in Belgium

Takeda is a global, values-based, R&D-driven biopharmaceutical leader with its headquarter in Tokyo, Japan. Takeda focuses its R&D efforts on four therapeutic areas: Oncology, Rare Diseases, Neuroscience and Gastroenterology. We also make targeted R&D investments in plasma-derived therapies and vaccines. Takeda's presence in Belgium is strengthened by its global production site in Lessines.

About the Lessines global production site

With its 1,200 employees, the Lessines manufacturing site aims to serve patients with rare diseases and other specialized pathologies. It is a center of excellence for immunoglobulin purification, with filling and packaging capabilities for plasma-derived therapies and conditioning capabilities for hematological products, having a total geographical coverage of more than 80 countries worldwide.

For more information: www.takeda.be.

For more information

Véronique Goethals
Reputation & Marketing Manager Takeda Lessines
Phone: +32 496 44 22 86
E-mail: [email protected]