Winter 2022Sustainability Initiatives

At the heart of everything we do, is an unshakable commitment to making a difference – for our employees, for our communities and for the people across the world who rely on our products. We’re always looking for ways to give back to the environment and support sustainability initiatives. The following are just a few examples of MSD sites creating and supporting sustainability initiatives to protect, preserve, and restore the environment!
MSD DunboyneSustainability Garden
1The Biodiversity project team at MSD Dunboyne was tasked with creating ways to help engage staff and promote a culture of environmental sustainability on-site in order to align with MSD sites and with Hoshin sustainability targets and to lead by example within the MSD Global Energy and Sustainability Coalition.
Together with support from the Sustainability Capital Fund, the team developed and created the Sustainability Garden. The newly developed garden is intended to provide an opportunity for MSD Dunboyne colleagues to engage with sustainable food and energy production, encompassing themes of renewable energy, reduced carbon footprint, and biodiversity.
The primary features of the garden include a wheelchair-accessible path, three solar powered meeting pods, raised vegetable planters, a rainwater harvesting tool shed, and a pollinator friendly planting scheme. Existing trees and greenery in the area were protected and retained during the creation of the garden. The garden’s three solar powered meeting pods are branded with the MSD logo and the MSD Ireland “See Green, Be Green” sustainability programme logo to promote visibility and remind those on-site of MSD’s sustainability goals.
2As well as promoting biodiversity and sustainability initiatives, the garden also works to improve the well-being of the employees on-site. The Biodiversity team hopes that all staff can utilise the space to incorporate more outdoor time in their day-to-day and make Dunboyne an even better place to work. In the spring, the more green-fingered MSD colleagues will also be able to avail of the vegetable planters within the garden as well, providing a full circle experience they can bring home!
MSD BallydineSolar Field & Biodiversity
A major sustainability goal of MSD is to achieve carbon neutrality by 2025. To help accomplish this goal and start down the path toward an entirely sustainable and energy efficient business practice, MSD Ballydine teamed up with ESB to create a solar field.
Together, MSD and ESB were able to make that goal a reality and create a sustainable solar farm. The resulting project is the largest ‘behind the meter’ solar farm ever installed in Ireland. The energy generated by the panels located on this solar field will be fully consumed on-site, ensuring a secure supply that takes pressure off the national grid.
The field covers 18.5 acres of land and generates 6.5 megawatts of power. This is enough energy to power 5,000 homes! The solar fields at Ballydine will also offset 3.4 million kilos of carbon dioxide a year; that’s equivalent to 4.7 million trees over the project’s lifetime. MSD Ballydine leads the way in developing ground-breaking treatments for chronic disease and illness and immuno-oncology. The work done at site is crucial to providing treatments and healthcare to millions of people around the world. At MSD Ballydine, the health of the environment is of equal importance to the health of patients, therefore the team always strives to find a way to offset the energetic and environmental costs of running their massively important operation
Vimeo VideoMSD Ballydine also has a keen focus on promoting biodiversity. This year, colleagues at the site planted over 3,500 bulbs, which will provide food for insects in early spring and bring a splash of colour on the avenue. Other activities this year included wildflower seed sowing, rewilding, installation of a footbridge along a new Nature Trail, and continued engagement with community Tidy Towns groups!
MSD Red OakSee Green, Be Green Big Beach Clean
MSD Red Oak are proud to take care of the environment right outside their front door. As an initiative of MSD’s See Green, Be Green programme, members of the Red Oak team took to the beach for a massive sea and sand cleanup.
4On the beach at Sandymount, MSD Red Oak colleagues helped clean a section of the beach and nearby Sean Moore Park as a part of the nationwide Big Beach Clean. Organised byClean Coasts, this year’s annual Big Beach Clean saw over 500 groups collect over 63 tonnes of litter on coasts around the country!
Not only did the Red Oak colleagues help clean up the coast, but they also took the next step in helping out researchers and ocean advocates by participating in Citizen Science data collection. They provided crucial data about the type of litter they were picking up and submitted the information to Clean Coasts – who will then use the data provided to identify pollution hotspots and refine their efforts to keep waterways clean.
MSD CarlowLeadership in Energy and Environmental Design
5Sustainability is built into the foundation of MSD — literally! It’s a focus that factors into our operations at every turn, including the physical blueprints for the buildings that make up MSD sites. In 2022, the MSD site at Carlow has exceeded expectations on all building projects to date through high-quality design and thorough implementation of LEED requirements.
LEED, or Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, is the most widely used green building rating system in the world. LEED certification provides an outline for healthy, efficient, and cost-reducing green buildings. LEED certification is a symbol of sustainability, achievement, and leadership that is recognised around the world.
The two lab projects (2019 QO Lab and Dolmen Lab) on campus have targeted LEED Gold, surpassing expectations and overshooting the minimum Silver requirement. Project Rathgall is also performing far above its targeted LEED Certified requirement through a highly efficient, detailed, and low-embodied carbon design.
The QO Lab also achieved LEED Gold, as well as EXEED (Excellence in Energy Efficiency Design). It is one of the only buildings in Ireland to hold this accolade!
MSD Carlow is continuing to build upon this amazing progress by gearing up the campus grounds for additional LEED certifications of any future projects via a campus-wide review. This would ensure that all future buildings on the site will continue to be tailor-made for LEED certification and continue to promote and foster MSD’s sustainability goals from the ground up.
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