The total amount of solid waste from our production has decreased by almost 9% from 16,810 tons in 1997 to 15,330 tons in 1998.

Non-hazardous waste from our production processes accounts for 89% of our solid waste and mainly comprises used packaging and filter materials from our production processes. 24% of this is recycled, including paper, cardboard, plastic, metal, and pancreatic matter from pigs, while other materials are incinerated or disposed of as controlled landfill. The quantity of waste for recycling declined by 19% from 1997 to 1998. This is related particularly to a considerable decrease in the use of pancreatic glands in insulin production.

Hazardous waste, e.g. comprising oil and chemical waste, amounted to 11% of the total quantity of solid waste in 1998. Hazardous waste is sent for controlled destruction.

Liquid waste is the single largest waste stream from our processes and originates from the fermentation and recovery processes. The liquid waste is separated into two streams: a concentrated stream containing biomass comprising spent microorganisms, nutrient residues and water; and another more diluted stream, waste water, which contains small quantities of organic material and nutrient salts. After inactivation, biomass from enzyme production is recycled as agricultural fertilizer under the name NovoGro^®. In the same way the inactivated biomass from insulin production is reused as a feed supplement for pigs (yeast cream).

As from the autumn of 1999 new general regulations from the Danish environmental authorities will prohibit the spreading of liquid organic fertilizer in Denmark in the period from October to the end of January. In 1997 we therefore established a facility at our factory in Kalundborg to concentrate liquid NovoGro^® into a solid fertilizer product, NovoGro^® 30, which has a dry matter content of 30%. This plant has now been in operation for more than one year and our experience so far is very positive. Farms in Western Zealand have accepted the new product and within a short period high demand for NovoGro^® 30 has built up.

Process waste water
The less concentrated stream is waste water, which is treated at our own and/or the municipal waste water treatment plant before discharge. At our enzyme plant in Franklinton, North Carolina, USA, the waste water is used for irrigation of farmland.

The water drained from NovoGro^® as part of the process of turning it into solid NovoGro^® 30 is treated at the biological waste water treatment plant at the Kalundborg factory. The dewatering process is the reason for the increase in the total volume of liquid waste in 1997 and 1998. By contrast, the volume of recycled liquid waste is decreasing, since an ever-increasing share of the biomass is converted into the solid fertilizer product NovoGro^® 30.

In 1998, we have continued a trial in Kalundborg with coordinated purification of waste water from both our factory and the municipality at the central treatment plant of Kalundborg Municipality. Before the close of the year it will be assessed whether this coordinated treatment has an overall positive impact on the environment.