Foreword
Efficient utilization of resources
Efficient resource management
For Bayer, the efficient utilization of resources makes an important contribution to sustainable development. To reduce the consumption of energy and raw materials at its production plants – and thus cut emissions at the same time – Bayer utilizes every existing possibility for process optimization. That we are successful in this, and that resource productivity has risen consistently in the last few years as a result, is shown by the environmental statistics for solid waste, wastewater and energy. 
Interest in renewable raw materials is growing, and we too apply them as starting products for our product range. Bayer MaterialScience uses sugar, glycerin, castor oil, soybean oil and other renewable materials in polyurethane and coating materials. At Bayer CropScience and Bayer HealthCare, the use of non-fossil raw materials is restricted to specialties and formulating aids. Their use will rise as their quality improves. At the same time, however, various technical and economic obstacles preventing the large-scale industrial application of non-fossil raw materials must be overcome. For technical reasons, it is not possible to change over to renewable raw materials for all products.
Water: High investment in wastewater treatment
Water plays an important role in our production processes. Because it is such a precious commodity in many regions of the world, Bayer takes various measures to ensure that it is used sparingly at all its facilities around the world. Between 1994 and 2004, our water consumption remained virtually constant at around 2.2 million cubic meters a day, despite the acquisition of Aventis CropScience. Without what are now Lanxess operations, it fell to 1.2 million cubic meters per day in 2005. 54 percent of the water comes from surface waters, 35 percent from the groundwater and about 3 percent from the public drinking water supply. The lion’s share of the water, namely just under 67 percent, is used as cooling water. It is taken from the surface waters and returned there, without having been polluted. We operate high-efficiency wastewater treatment plants to treat contaminated wastewater.
A project launched in October 2005 by Currenta involves a considerable investment in wastewater treatment. By 2010, at a cost of EUR15 million, Bayer will modernize the clarification basins at its Waste Management Center in Leverkusen, which, apart from the effluent from the Chemical Park, also treats the wastewater from 300,000 residents in the catchment area. Through this modernization project, the inorganic nitrogen load will be cut by more than 40 percent.
The measures being taken at Bayer’s u.s. sites are also exemplary. In 2004, the Baytown site in Texas (United States) received the Industrial Water Quality Achievement Award from the Water Environment Federation (WEF) because Baytown had, over a period of five years, complied fully with all the regulations despite consuming 40 million cubic meters of water a year, and had not, on one single occasion, exceeded the permitted wastewater thresholds.
A large number of companies throughout the world have successfully deployed Bayer Tower Biology® for the treatment of industrial effluent over the past two decades. The biological treatment process takes up significantly less space than conventional clarification basins, and is used above all where there is not enough room for a traditional wastewater treatment facility.
Energy: Process for using biogas from sewage sludge
At present, Currenta is working on a new process to reduce sewage sludge. The project, which was launched in Leverkusen in 2005, aims to treat sewage sludge in such a way that biogas can be obtained from the organic content and used to generate energy. The residual inorganic content would then be deposited on a hazardous waste landfill. The European Commission is supporting the development of the process (which is based on three stages) as part of its “Life” environment program.
Solid waste: Progress in the incineration of hazardous waste
Since the end of the 1990s, we have been able to almost halve the total volume of waste. Compared with 2004, there was an increase in the volume of waste in continued operations in 2005, the majority of which was attributable to decommissioning and modernization activities.
The positive overall development is the result of constant optimization of the production processes. The less raw materials the processes consume, the less waste they create. All the Bayer sites are duty bound to make efficient use of this waste. Our Berkeley site in California (United States) received the Environment Responsibility Award 2005 from Bayer HealthCare for the consistent reduction of its waste volumes and its recycling quota of 77 percent.
We have made considerable progress in the incineration of hazardous waste. Since 2002, Currenta has been using a process in its incinerators that separates off the mercury from the flue gas. This readily volatile heavy metal causes problems in the purification of flue gas. The process has since been patented and, under Bayer license, has been helping for around two years to reduce mercury emissions worldwide in a technically proven and efficient manner.
Interest in renewable raw materials is growing, and we too apply them as starting products for our product range. Bayer MaterialScience uses sugar, glycerin, castor oil, soybean oil and other renewable materials in polyurethane and coating materials. At Bayer CropScience and Bayer HealthCare, the use of non-fossil raw materials is restricted to specialties and formulating aids. Their use will rise as their quality improves. At the same time, however, various technical and economic obstacles preventing the large-scale industrial application of non-fossil raw materials must be overcome. For technical reasons, it is not possible to change over to renewable raw materials for all products.
Water: High investment in wastewater treatment
Water plays an important role in our production processes. Because it is such a precious commodity in many regions of the world, Bayer takes various measures to ensure that it is used sparingly at all its facilities around the world. Between 1994 and 2004, our water consumption remained virtually constant at around 2.2 million cubic meters a day, despite the acquisition of Aventis CropScience. Without what are now Lanxess operations, it fell to 1.2 million cubic meters per day in 2005. 54 percent of the water comes from surface waters, 35 percent from the groundwater and about 3 percent from the public drinking water supply. The lion’s share of the water, namely just under 67 percent, is used as cooling water. It is taken from the surface waters and returned there, without having been polluted. We operate high-efficiency wastewater treatment plants to treat contaminated wastewater.
A project launched in October 2005 by Currenta involves a considerable investment in wastewater treatment. By 2010, at a cost of EUR15 million, Bayer will modernize the clarification basins at its Waste Management Center in Leverkusen, which, apart from the effluent from the Chemical Park, also treats the wastewater from 300,000 residents in the catchment area. Through this modernization project, the inorganic nitrogen load will be cut by more than 40 percent.
The measures being taken at Bayer’s u.s. sites are also exemplary. In 2004, the Baytown site in Texas (United States) received the Industrial Water Quality Achievement Award from the Water Environment Federation (WEF) because Baytown had, over a period of five years, complied fully with all the regulations despite consuming 40 million cubic meters of water a year, and had not, on one single occasion, exceeded the permitted wastewater thresholds.
A large number of companies throughout the world have successfully deployed Bayer Tower Biology® for the treatment of industrial effluent over the past two decades. The biological treatment process takes up significantly less space than conventional clarification basins, and is used above all where there is not enough room for a traditional wastewater treatment facility.
Energy: Process for using biogas from sewage sludge
At present, Currenta is working on a new process to reduce sewage sludge. The project, which was launched in Leverkusen in 2005, aims to treat sewage sludge in such a way that biogas can be obtained from the organic content and used to generate energy. The residual inorganic content would then be deposited on a hazardous waste landfill. The European Commission is supporting the development of the process (which is based on three stages) as part of its “Life” environment program.
Solid waste: Progress in the incineration of hazardous waste
Since the end of the 1990s, we have been able to almost halve the total volume of waste. Compared with 2004, there was an increase in the volume of waste in continued operations in 2005, the majority of which was attributable to decommissioning and modernization activities.
The positive overall development is the result of constant optimization of the production processes. The less raw materials the processes consume, the less waste they create. All the Bayer sites are duty bound to make efficient use of this waste. Our Berkeley site in California (United States) received the Environment Responsibility Award 2005 from Bayer HealthCare for the consistent reduction of its waste volumes and its recycling quota of 77 percent.
We have made considerable progress in the incineration of hazardous waste. Since 2002, Currenta has been using a process in its incinerators that separates off the mercury from the flue gas. This readily volatile heavy metal causes problems in the purification of flue gas. The process has since been patented and, under Bayer license, has been helping for around two years to reduce mercury emissions worldwide in a technically proven and efficient manner.
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