Chartres is a cathedral town 100 km south of Paris. The Novo Nordisk factory dates from 1961 and is located on an industrial estate in the town itself. Human insulin crystals, produced in Denmark, are formulated and filled into vials and cartridges which are then packaged for distribution, mainly to Europe. The factory employs 197 people.
"We never have complaints from neighbours. But then again, we have no chimney, no noise and no waste water treatment plant, so our impact on the local community is very minor."
Louis Nizet, Technical Manager, Chartres, and a member of Novo Nordisk's International Environmental Network.
Major impacts
The supporting processes designed to ensure the integrity of the insulin account for much of our impact on the environment. These processes include the production of ultra-pure water for injection and for the cleaning and sterilization of product components, the manufacturing area and equipment.
Accidental release
In 1997, a plastic pipeline connecting two caustic soda storage tanks broke, causing a leakage of 2 m3 of caustic soda. The chemical ended up in the rainwater drainage system. The authorities were informed and detected no difference in the alkalinity of the rainwater. The leak of caustic soda had little impact on the environment as it was diluted many times before arriving at a municipal water treatment plant several kilometres away.
Two corrective measures have been taken. Firstly, if there is a similar leak an automatic valve will shut down the pipeline as part of a newly installed SCADA (supervisory control and data acquisition) system. Secondly, the quality of the plastic piping has been improved.
Environmental focus
The main focus is to reduce the consumption of water. For example, purges are used to flush out limescale from the cooling towers. The number of purges will be reduced in 1998.
Ozone-depleting BOD5 (R12) are still used in some older chilling equipment. In 1998, we will replace this refrigerant.
Continuous monitoring of the waste water released into the sewage system will begin in 1998. Previously, samples were taken once every three months. The new monitoring system is designed to redirect any discharges of waste water automatically into a 10 m3 holding tank if the pH is abnormal.
