Environmental Management

ISO 14001:2004 Certified

MDS Nordion's Ottawa office is ISO 14001:2004 certified. This certification is an internationally recognized standard which specifies the actual requirements for an environmental management system (EMS) and for controlling and improving a company's environmental performance.

Certification of our EMS provides assurance to our customers, regulators, and the community that MDS Nordion has a sound EMS and sound operating practices that meet stringent requirements acceptable to international standards.

Energy Efficiency - Recognition for Environmental Excellence

MDS Nordion is recognized for its efforts to improve the efficiency of and reduce the day-to-day use of electricity. The Government of Canada presented the 2007 ENERGY STAR ® Market Transformation Awards to a dozen businesses and utilities from across Canada in recognition of their exceptional work in promoting energy-efficiency. These awards are part of a family of ecoENERGY Efficiency Awards supported by Canada's Government to celebrate best practices in innovation in energy efficiency in all sectors of the economy.

MDS Nordion was selected as a recipient of the award because of its deployment of a materials management tool called LeanSigma - a methodology used to improve processes, eliminate waste, and reduce variability in operations. Employees used the LeanSigma tools to examine existing processes in detail, identify areas of waste, and then standardize new, more efficient and effective energy saving practices.

The LeanSigma projects resulted in an 18 per cent decrease in hydro consumption, achieved by changing lighting technology, including ballasts, lamps, and modifying lighting schedules. The annual savings for the project totaled 3,277,654 kilowatt hours, generating enough energy to provide hydro to 327 homes annually. Another project looked at ways to reduce natural gas consumption and succeeded in a 15 per cent reduction by improving insulation in our buildings, changing and reducing the number of heating ventilation units, and operating remaining units at a higher efficiency. As a result, 250,000m3 of natural gas is being saved on an annual basis, enough gas for 83 homes annually.

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

At MDS Nordion we make every effort to reduce, reuse, and recycle to eliminate unnecessary waste. In 2006, the MDS Nordion Ottawa location had a diversion rate of 72 per cent. This meant that 72 per cent of the waste generated at our site was diverted from landfill through recycling and reduction initiatives.

Another great example of waste reduction is a program developed and implemented by the Environmental, Health, and Safety (EH&S) team in Fleurus, Belgium. This team initiated a program that recycles used printer and toner cartridges and makes a difference to the lives of hospitalized children. Rather than being sent to landfill, used printer and toner cartridges in Fleurus are collected and donated to a local organization. This organization sells the used cartridges to a business that refills/recycles them, and the money raised is used to operate a local Internet radio station for hospitalized children in Belgium. The radio station allows hospitalized children to share their stories with others who are facing similar situations.