Merck is committed to implementing sustainable solid waste management practices and we monitor waste generation and set goals to that end.

We prioritize our improvement efforts based on the internationally recognized waste hierarchy, which characterizes practices from most favorable to least favorable: prevention, reduction, reuse, recycling, energy recovery and disposal.

In 2010, Merck managed more than 190,000 metric tons of wastes from our operations. Of this, 86,000 metric tons required special handling, hereafter referred to as "hazardous", which includes (but is not limited to) hazardous, special, pharmaceutical product, and medical or infectious waste.

The primary component of our hazardous wastes is solvent from our manufacturing operations. Of the hazardous waste we generate, 23 percent is recovered offsite and reused either by Merck or by other industries. Another 32 percent is burned as a source of energy in industrial furnaces, such as cement kilns, or to generate power.

Most of the remaining waste is product or research waste that is not recyclable. Of the total hazardous waste generated, 43 percent is incinerated and approximately 2 percent of our hazardous waste (no liquids), is sent to landfills.

At a number of our facilities, we are able to reuse solvents on-site in our processes. This reuse lowers our process costs by reducing the amount of new solvent we need to purchase while also decreasing the amount of waste solvents we need to transport off-site for treatment. In 2010 more than one-third of the solvents we used for manufacturing product and cleaning equipment were recovered solvents.

We are also tracking our generation of nonhazardous waste as we continue to reduce generation and increase our recycling rate. Of the 105,000 metric tons of nonhazardous wastes we generated in 2010, we recycled approximately 45 percent.

To make sure the wastes we send offsite are managed in an environmentally responsible manner, Merck has had a global waste management services vendor approval program since the late 1980s. To receive approval (by either Merck personnel or a third party), the commercial waste facility must demonstrate its ability to responsibly manage our hazardous waste, product waste and other industrial waste streams.

The following reflect examples of recent improvements in conserving resources and managing waste:

• Our Rahway, New Jersey, facility implemented a recycle program in 2009 that was expanded in 2010 to operations in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts. The result was a 9.6 percent increase in the recycle rate in Rahway, New Jersey, a 15 percent increase in Boston, Massachusetts, and a 12 percent increase in Upper Gwynedd, Pennsylvania. In Rahway, where the program has run the longest, the company realized savings of over $190,000 in disposal costs. One key component of the program was the recovery of food waste for composting. Food waste is a common, large-volume waste stream that is often overlooked.
• Our Cleveland, Tennessee, facility has recycled 100 percent of scrap aerosol cans from sun-care manufacturing—a total of 166,000 pounds of scrap metal since implementation. The effort has reduced disposal costs by 80 percent on a per unit basis, or $300,000 per year.
• Our Cramlington, United Kingdom, facility reuses the containers in which we store and transport bulk tablets. Avoiding the cost of new containers has saved $200,000, and expansion of the network to more sites is expected to save another $300,000.
• Our Omaha, Nebraska, Animal Health Distribution Center engaged shop floor employees who handle material every day to recycle 60.05 tons of material. As a result, less than 25 percent (16.86 tons) of the site's waste was sent to a landfill.