Dr. Reddy's

At Dr. Reddy's, minimising the consumption of solvents and their prudent disposal is a key priority. Around 80% of pharmaceutical waste stems from the use of solvents, with the remainder produced from the use of reagents and raw materials. High toxicity, low flash points and high vapour pressure in air lead to many of the adverse effects of solvents on environment as well as on human health.

Hardly surprising then, solvents are among the biggest concerns of the pharmaceutical industry. And while their safe and responsible disposal is our foremost priority, our primary aim is to minimise their usage through the adoption of green chemistry and to maximise their reuse through recovery systems.

We have substantially reduced use of
Class I & II solvents at Dr. Reddy's.

We are particular that any solvents used are benzene free and therefore we have adopted
the use of solvents like ‘Hexane’.

From Barrel to Pipe	CASE STUDY

OPPORTUNITY

	In one of our plants, solvent was procured in barrels and then decanted for usage. This not only led to the wastage of solvents through evaporation but also exposed lab personnel to harmful solvent vapours. This situation was proving to be financially expensive, hazardous to personnel health and exposing business to safety and regulatory risks.

INTERVENTION

In response, we developed an innovative closed-looped mechanised solvent handling system. In this system, the solvent is pumped from a tank via a pipe to the product. This process is quick and easy and offers leak free transfer of solvents.

OUTCOME

Wastage of solvent and transfer losses have been virtually eliminated.

Environmental and personnel hazards during handling have also been eliminated. Usage of barrels has reduced and along with it the resources needed to treat and clean them before disposal have also reduced significantly.

This method will now be replicated across FTOs and even at the new SEZs.

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