Novo Nordisk Indonesia takes a holistic approach to achieve zero environmental impact

JAKARTA, Indonesia, April 22, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- In an attempt to achieve the company's ultimate goal to have zero environmental impact, Novo Nordisk Indonesia has initiated various activities, including switching the company's delivery method from air freight to sea freight and launching an internal campaign called "Plastic Funtastic: Turning Your Plastic Waste into Something Fantastic".

Both activities are part of the global strategy Circular for Zero, Novo Nordisk's global initiative to reach zero environmental impact. Novo Nordisk has already begun to take the first steps towards achieving zero environmental impact. Nevertheless, the company is constantly looking for new approaches to accomplish more and believes that answers will come when the company adopts a circular mindset.

For instance, the decision to change the delivery method was made upon realizing that product distribution had a significant contribution to Novo Nordisk's CO2 footprint. Novo Nordisk Indonesia Finance & Operations Director Rasmus Hansen explained, "Our ambition of achieving zero environmental impact is a cornerstone of our aspiration to be a truly sustainable business. To lead the way, and be at the forefront of change, we have taken a bold and broad, company-wide approach to solving environmental issues. With air freight being the main driver, it was responsible for 75% of the total CO2 emissions for product distribution. By switching our supply process to a sea freight shipment, Novo Nordisk Indonesia contributes to the important journey to decrease the companies CO₂ footprint and thereby get one step closer to zero environmental impact."

Meanwhile, the "Plastic Funtastic" campaign was a Novo Nordisk's TakeAction activity, a Novo Nordisk's global employee volunteer programme to drive change in the health, social, and environmental spaces.

As an internal campaign, the activity invites Novo Nordisk Indonesia's employees to be proactive in reducing plastic waste. According to data shared by Waste4Change Indonesia founder and managing director Mohamad Bijaksana Junerosano in 2019, Indonesia generated approximately 175,000 tons waste daily or about 14% or 24,500 tons a day of plastics, and about 81% of waste in the country were unsorted. Moreover, the refill packaging and many forms of soft plastic waste will end up as rejected plastic waste because they are unrecyclable – unlike bottles and hard plastic waste which are easier to recycle.

As a holistic campaign, "Plastic Funtastic" features several activities, including an online talkshow to provide the employees a better understanding about the impact of plastic waste, a sort-your-plastic-waste movement, and a project to build public bathrooms for waste pickers community by using the recycled plastic waste from the employees.

During the campaign, Novo Nordisk Indonesia's employees were invited to send cleaned rejected plastics to several drop points. The plastic waste was then recycled into bricks and used to build public bathrooms at Kampung Pemulung in Cirendeu, South Tangerang, Banten. The project managed to help 100 families residing in the waste pickers community.

Novo Nordisk Indonesia Market Access & Public Affairs Director Banarsono Trimandojo added, "Our broader vision is to achieve a zero environmental impact and a waste-free future, either it's from our production or from our lives as Novo Nordisk employees. Through our TakeAction activities, we managed to prevent 125 kilograms of plastic waste from our homes end up in landfills or leak into the oceans and rivers and contribute to the community at the same time. We believe that collective action is vital, which is why we will always engage our employees and business partners to play their part." 

Rasmus also emphasized, "Novo Nordisk wants to inspire others to focus on the environment while doing business through our global initiative. We also believe that being a part of a bigger movement is the only way we will achieve zero environmental impact. Hence, Novo Nordisk joined forces with The UN Sustainable Development Goals, CDP (a not-for-profit charity that runs the global disclosure system for investors, companies, cities, states, and regions to manage their environmental impact), RE100 (a global initiative bringing together the world's most influential businesses committed to 100 percent renewable electricity), and CE100 (a global platform bringing together leading companies, emerging innovators, and regions to accelerate the transition to a circular economy)."

About Novo Nordisk

Novo Nordisk is a leading global healthcare company, founded in 1923 and headquartered in Denmark. Our purpose is to drive change to defeat diabetes and other serious chronic diseases such as obesity and rare blood and endocrine disorders. We do so by pioneering scientific breakthroughs, expanding access to our medicines, and working to prevent and ultimately cure disease. Novo Nordisk employs about 47,800 people in 80 countries and markets its products in around 170 countries. For more information, visit novonordisk.com, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube.