In 2015, we put into practice a sustainability strategy with accompanying goals for 2020 that provided the framework for how we manage, and make an impact on, the most relevant social and environmental issues for our company and partners. The goals that we set out for ourselves are aligned with the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and address a wide range of challenges in our industry, while helping to make a difference on relevant issues that affect society and the planet.

Our goals and programs are focused around four strategic areas:

Last year (FY 2019), the company made progress towards its goals, particularly in the following areas:

Innovation

• BD launched 25 products across its three businesses – Medical, Interventional and Life Sciences – further increasing access to quality healthcare. We continue to identify opportunities for innovation to help address health care challenges and drive business performance.
   
• In 2019, BD received more than 500 U.S. patents and more than 3,000 patents worldwide. The company spends more than $1 billion on innovation each year with more than 250 new products in the development pipeline. For the fifth year in a row, we were named to the Derwent Top 100 Global Innovators list, highlighting high-impact innovation based on number of patents.
   
• BD is one of seven nonregulatory members actively participating in the International Medical Device Regulators Forum (IMDRF) Medical Device Cybersecurity Working Group. This is a collaborative effort with the shared goal of harmonizing medical device cybersecurity around the world. BD made significant contributions to the IMDRF’s Principles and Practices for Medical Device Cybersecurity, which was developed in 2019 and finalized in March 2020. 

Access:

• In August 2019, BD was named to Fortune magazine’s “Change the World List,” for the third time in five years, most recently recognizing our extensive efforts in helping combat the threat of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) through programs that raise awareness of AMR, as well as mobilize the healthcare industry, leaders and communities around the world to take action to extend the useful life of medications.
   
• 2019 marked BD’s 12th year of collaboration with The President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) on the Labs for Life program, which seeks to strengthen laboratory systems and upgrade clinical practices in phlebotomy, infusion and injection. Through this program, we have deployed more than 300 BD Global Health Fellows for short-term, in-country assignments, to strengthen and support laboratories in India, Kenya, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Uganda and Haiti. In some participating laboratories, lab assessment scores have improved by as much as 150% and average turnaround time for select diagnostic tests have been reduced by as much as 75%.
   
• In June 2019, BD opened a Technology Campus in Bangalore, India. The site supports sustaining engineering, with a long-term vision to own the product life cycle management for BD products, as well as design and innovation for global products and global markets.

 

Efficiency:

• Since setting our 2020 sustainability targets in 2015, BD has continued to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and water consumption, and we remain committed to reducing waste and increasing use of renewable energy, including the installation of on-site solar power generation across BD sites – most recently at our global headquarters in Franklin Lakes, NJ and European headquarters in Eysins, Switzerland. Along with the installation of combined heat and power at its Drogheda, Ireland facility, these continued investments will increase climate resilience throughout our operations.
   
• As part of the BD portfolio of IV products, we introduced a variety of IV solutions in different sizes for intravenous administration. The freeflex^® bag is a multilayer polyolefin film that is non-PVC and non-DEHP. The bag is not made with natural rubber latex. The container closures are also not made with natural rubber latex and are non-PVC and non-DEHP. Products like the freeflex^® bag help move forward our broader goal of reducing priority materials of concern in specified product categories.
   
• Last year, BD identified more than 200 energy reduction projects that will amount to over $5 million in energy savings, once completed. Projects include the replacement of existing lighting with LED lighting, recommissioning of an ice plant, combined heat and power projects, installation of solar panel projects and various equipment upgrades.

 

Empowerment:

• BD is committed to fostering an environment that welcomes and empowers an inclusive and diverse workforce which has earned the company recognition by a number of organizations in 2019, including the Human Rights Campaign Foundation (Best Place to Work for LGBTQ Equality), Bloomberg (2020 Gender Equality Index), and Forbes (Best Employers for Diversity 2020), among others. In 2019, we made a public commitment to support the U.N. Standards of Conduct for Business, aimed at tackling discrimination against LGBT+ people.
   
• Recently, BD was named to the Corporate Responsibility Magazine’s Top 100 Best Corporate Citizens for the fifth year in a row (2015-2020), which ranks U.S. public companies for their outstanding environmental, social and governance transparency and performance.
   
• The company continues to place a strong focus on philanthropy, providing $10 million in cash donations and $14 million in product donations, as well as expertise and employee volunteer hours to non-profit organizations around the world.

 

BD always has, and will continue to place a strong focus on product safety, including product quality, management of materials, animal welfare, cybersecurity and sterilization; as well as addressing the impact of coronavirus, including continuity of business and supply, advancing research and development for vaccine research, developing new tests to detect COVID-19, public-private partnerships and grantmaking.
 

Inspired by our Purpose – Advancing the world of health^™ – we are reminded that we all play a part in changing the world for the better every day. Just as we continuously seek new innovations to help more patients live better lives, we strive to be the best employer, the best environmental steward and the best global corporate citizen we can possibly be.
 

Later this year (FY 2021), we will announce new sustainability commitments which will focus on shared value creation – addressing unmet societal needs through business models and initiatives that also contribute to commercial success.
 

For more information about the company’s sustainability goals, view the 2019 Sustainability Report here: https://www.bd.com/en-us/company/sustainability-at-bd.