Janssen Pharmaceutica has invested 7 million euros in an expansion of the waste water treatment station that services its production unit in Geel. This plant, which produces active pharmaceutical ingredients, has today officially brought on line a new biologically based nitrogen-removal installation for the purification of its waste water.

expansion of the waste water treatment station Janssen in Geel

Thursday, March 22, 2007 – Today the biological water treatment station at the Geel site of Janssen Pharmaceutica has been expanded to include a new step, in particular the biological removal of nitrogen compounds from waste water. This expansion was officially brought on line in the presence of Frans Peeters, the mayor of Geel. The Geel site has had its own water treatment station since the 1970s. Thanks to a policy of ongoing investment over the decades since then, the company has succeeded in complying with the ever more stringent legal purification standards. With this latest investment of 7 million euros, Janssen Pharmaceutica has taken a giant step forward in its never-ending quest to improve the quality of its waste water.

Waste water at the Geel site of Janssen Pharmaceutica is purified biologically by means of bacteria. In the existing installations, until now virtually only organic components have been degraded; nitrogen compounds have also been broken down, but to only a very limited extent. The new component contains new basins, with another type of bacteria that are more capable of removing nitrogen compounds from the waste water. This new project was preceded by a pilot project that lasted two years.

This environment-friendly investment follows other investments, such as in the environmental tank park in 2006 for the selective storage of waste flows. That investment, which totaled 11 million euros, has made it possible to recycle more solvents.

All these initiatives are part of a highly structured and long-term vision: the Water Master Plan, which commits Janssen Pharmaceutica to a policy of continuous improvement of the quality of its waste water. The scope of this plan is by no means limited to the processing of waste flows; already at the development stage of a medicine, it is attempted to reduce these flows. In fact, the Water Master Plan is integrated into the general prevention and environment policy of the company, which is focused on rational energy consumption, the use of green energy, the reduction of CO2 emissions, etc.

In Belgium, Janssen Pharmaceutica has sites in Beerse, Geel and Olen, which together account for a workforce of 4,700 persons. Currently, a total of 844 staff members work in Geel. Together they make the active ingredients for more than 65% of all the medicines supplied by Johnson & Johnson worldwide.

More information:
Janssen Pharmaceutica, Stefan Gijssels: 014-60 3030