The certification has been awarded to seven of its centres: three pharmaceutical plants, two chemical plants, an R&D centre and the Headquarters

ALMIRALL IS AWARDED THE ISO 14001:96 ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT CERTIFICATION

Almirall, the first Spanish pharmaceutical multinational, has been awarded the ISO 14001:96 certification by the Spanish section of the Bureau Veritas Independent Certification Body, an association linked to the International Organization for Standardization (ISO).The awarding of this international standard, which recognises the quality of the company’s environmental management system, attests to Almirall’s commitment to the environment.

The ISO certification for environmental management has been awarded to seven Almirall centres: the pharmaceutical plants in Sant Andreu de la Barca, Sant Just Desvern and Manlleu; the chemical plants in Sant Andreu de la Barca and Sant Celoni, the R&D centre in Barcelona and the company Headquarters also in Barcelona.

What was recognised in the seven Almirall centres that have received the ISO 14001:96 certification was the environmental management system of the entire organisation as part of Almirall’s continuous improvement programme.This system provides the company with an orderly and coherent way of dealing with its environmental concerns through the distribution of resources, the division of responsibilities and the continuous assessment of practices, procedures and working methods within an environmentally friendly framework.

In the words of Joan Portella, responsible for Safety and the Environment at Almirall: “Our company is becoming more and more concerned about not only respecting and improving the quality of the environment, but also health protection.As a result, we are doing our utmost to minimise the potential environmental impact of our activities.The whole organisation is committed to appropriate practices with respect to the environment, and this goes hand-in-hand with a strong desire for continuous improvement.Therefore, this recognition encourages and motivates us to carry on working under the strictest environmental criteria”.

Almirall and the environment

The ISO 14001:96 certification acts as a continuation of Almirall’s environmental policy, as all the company’s facilities are furnished with the most advanced analytical and experimentation systems and equipment, all of them fitted out in such a way as to guarantee that they respect the environment.  

Following the Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP), the reduction and elimination of waste products is considered to be just one more stage in the production process along with the implementation of all necessary measures for preventing accidents that may have an effect on human health and/or the environment.

This environmental policy is dynamic given that it endeavours to find new solutions to improve processes, products and services in an ongoing fashion through constantly updating measures to ensure they are efficient and capable of adapting to the changes around them.

Almirall conveys this commitment to all its staff in the hope that they realise its importance and include it in their day-to-day work, while at the same time requiring that it be adhered to by all external companies working at Almirall’s centres.

Almirall

The main aim of Almirall, the first Spanish pharmaceutical multinational, is to provide society with innovative drugs to combat discomfort and disease, thus helpingto improve health and quality of life. To this end, it constantly devotes the maximum human and financial resources to researching new products.

The company’s main research fields are those areas related to the treatment of asthma, bronchitis, allergies, atopic dermatitis, arthritis and gastrointestinal disorders.

The company plans to invest in R&D around 490 million euros in the next five years, and the total sales forecasts for 2003 are projected to reach 946.7 million euros. Its estimated staff for 2003 is of 3,256 people, of whom 532 are related to R&D activities.

The company also has five research centres and six manufacturing plants, as well as branch offices in the main cities of Spain and subsidiaries in Europe and Latin America.

Its annual production forecast for this year is over 94 million units, and products resulting from its own R&D are marketed in over 80 countries around the world.