Lilly highlights progress on environmental targets

Lilly has reported its progress on meeting a number of its key environmental targets ahead of schedule.

By the end of last year, the pharmaceutical company has been successful in improving its energy efficiency by almost 12 percent from 2007 baseline levels, while greenhouse gas emissions have been slashed by more than nine percent.

Meanwhile, the amount of waste sent to landfill and water intake levels have been slashed by 50 percent and 30 percent respectively, meaning the firm is progressing well on meeting the goals of its five-year environmental plan, which commenced in 2008.

New, more ambitious waste and water goals have therefore been set for the period between 2011 and 2013, using its 2010 performance level as a revised baseline.

Steve Gillman, vice-president of health, safety and environment for Lilly, said: "We take this responsibility seriously and remain committed to finding more ways to use resources more efficiently and improve our performance."

Last week, the company announced that its new lung cancer drug Alimta has been given a recommendation by Europe's Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use.