The majority of the waste, 58,193 tons, is biomass from the fermentation process in Kalundborg. The biomass was previously used for animal feed but is now recovered for biogas production. As a result, the company’s recycling rate is high – 84 percent in 2012 – and only 5 percent and 1 percent respectively are disposed of as special waste and landfill, the report says.

Novo Nordisk wastewater production increased 12 percent year-on-year, from just over 2 million cubic meters to almost 2.3 million cubic meters. In 2008 the company produced 2.5 million cubic meters of wastewater.

In November 2011, the president of Novo Nordisk Inc. wrote a column for Environmental Leader detailing a retrofit of a vacant building intended for use as its US headquarters. The project invested $215 million in renovating the 25-year-old, 770,000 square foot office building in Plainsboro, N.J. When complete in mid-2013, the building will be eligible for Silver LEED-certification.

Click through for Environmental Leader’s coverage of Noro Nordisk’s reports from 2008, 2009 and 2011.