With sustainable development becoming a core element of Bayer’s corporate strategy, the company aims to achieve long-term returns and generate a positive impact for both society and the environment. Bayer’s St. Louis locations are continuously working to reduce their environmental footprint by creating and maintaining habitats for native species to flourish, emphasizing the importance of proper recycling, and conserving energy and water, all of which helped them to earn the esteemed title of Challenge Champion in the 2020 St. Louis Green Business Challenge.
During the 2020 Challenge, Bayer made good on their pledge to improve climate and environmental protection as part of their Champion Innovation Project, where Bayer restored two wetlands at its Chesterfield campus. The project provided improved monitoring of prairie habitats to include identifying species presence and created a new, more detailed monitoring form for employee use. Bayer also developed new mobile and web applications to log wildlife habitat observations (nest box monitoring) on its campus, and installed three purple martin nesting houses and 24 nesting gourds.
Other noteworthy accomplishments include the renewal of Bayer’s Wildlife Habitat Council Gold Certification – which is the only voluntary sustainability standard designed for broad-based biodiversity enhancement and conservation education activities on corporate landholdings – for their Creve Coeur campus. Moreover, the company had an average landfill diversion rate of 70% year-to-date in 2020 when submitting its latest data for the Challenge.
As a new leader in agriculture, Bayer also has a heightened responsibility and the unique potential to advance farming for the benefit of society and the planet. The company’s crop science division has turned the power of innovation toward further increasing sustainability by developing climate-smart solutions and creating innovative business models that benefit farmers, tackle climate change and drive towards a carbon-zero future for agriculture. To tackle such an ambitious goal, the company has focused its efforts where they can make the biggest impact, working collaboratively with growers and partners across the value chain to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions of crops grown in the fields, all while reducing emissions in the company’s own operations.
With an additional goal of being climate neutral by 2030, the company has vowed to implement energy efficiency measures at its sites and convert 100 percent of the purchased electricity to renewable energies. The remaining emissions will be offset by purchasing certificates from climate protection projects with recognized quality standards.
The Clean Air Partnership is pleased to recognize the tremendous efforts of businesses like Bayer that continue to do their share for cleaner air by channeling their time and energy towards practicing sustainability. For additional information on how your company can get involved in the St. Louis Green Business Challenge, subscribe to their weekly E-Newsletter or visit www.stlouisgreenchallenge.com. To learn more about the link between sustainability and air quality, explore our website, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter at @gatewaycleanair.
