(NOMINATION FOR 2016 AUREA AWARD): Hemofarm - Wastewater Treatment Facility

Hemofarm opened a wastewater treatment facility within its factory in Sabac in October 2015, thus solving the problem of wastewater release into the Sava River in a quality way from the technological point of view.

The adopted technological solution has reduced the allowed levels of wastewater to the limits prescribed by law, which has made it possible to obtain water that can be released into the city utility water treatment plant. Both chemical and biological treatment is applied. Owing to the specificities of the pharmaceutical industry, the wastewater treatmant facility is flexible and capable of treating various types of polluted water.

Aside from the fact that this facility is necessary to Hemofarm as a pharmaceutical leader, it is also a reflection of the company's endeavor to invest in the local community and environmental protection.

This investment exceeds EUR 1 million, and the real social and ecological value of the treatment facility is immeasurable given the long-term effects on people’s health, environment and production security.

INNOVATION

Hemofarm decided to initiate the construction of wastewater treatment facility in order to reduce the levels of wastewater from its factory in Sabac to the limits prescribed by law and make their release into the city sewerage possible.

Before this facility was built, Hemofarm had been releasing untreated wastewater from its production units into the Sava River, so parameters and permits were not within the limits prescribed by law. With the construction of this cutting-edge facility, the technological solution has reduced the allowed levels of wastewater to the limits prescribed by law, which has made it possible to obtain water that can be released into the city utility water treatment plant. In the meantime, the company has received a permit from the City of Sabac, which is close to finishing its wastewater treatment facility, to release treated wastewater from the factory into the city sewerage.

The new wastewater treatment facility of Hemofarm has no precedent in the region. Unlike butchers or slaughterhouses, which have one or two products that make wastewater treatment necessary, the pharmaceutical industry is specific for its wide range of products. Hemofarm in Sabac produces more than 1,000 substances. Each of them had to be studied to determine necessary parameters so technological water from their respective production processes could be treated and reduced to the limits prescribed by law, and only then could the wastewater treatment and release into the city sewerage start. This was a special challenge for the company. The result is a flexible technological solution that supports both chemical and biological treatment of water, treatment of various types of polluted water, and safe handling.

This facility in completely in line with Hemofarm's proactive approach to the environment and its respect for strict principles of sustainable development, which makes this company famous as one of the very few having the highest A+ score for sustainable operations.

SOCIAL UTILITY

This modern wastewater treatment facility is necessary to the activities of Hemofarm as a pharmaceutical leader, but it also represents a reflection of high level of trust of the local community in the company operations. Companies that invest in projects like this one show they are serious and determined to share their future with the local community.

The real social and ecological value of the treatment facility is immeasurable given its long-term effects on people’s health, environment and production security.

Before the facility was built, Hemofarm had been releasing untreated wastewater into the Sava River, and now treated water is released into the city sewerage. The City of Sabac is now working on its own wastewater treatment facility that will further treat all the water released into the city sewerage until pollution is reduced to the allowed levels to release it into the Sava River.

Hemofarm in Sabac released a total of 44,000 cubic meters of technological water in 2015. The new facility was put into trial operation in May 2015, and about 20,000 cubic meters of water has been treated in that facility since it was officially commissioned in October 2015.

This project is also a direct and fast response to a growing influence of climate changes and big floods that hit Serbia in 2014, Sabac in particular. Thanks to the speedy organization of the local self-government and large companies, including Hemofarm, the risk was successfully assessed and rules for further crisis management defined.

FINANCIAL POTENTIAL

A total value of Hemofarm’s investment in the new facility is EUR 1.2 million.

With the construction of this facility, the company has reduced the allowed levels of wastewater to the limits prescribed by law, thus avoiding the risk of the halt of production.

In that regard, any method to improve the production process and focus on social responsibility represents a great financial motive.

If Hemofarm's wastewater treatment facility in Sabac is your favorite for the Investment of the Year Award, you can vote for this nomination at the official website of the Aurea Award.

Hemofarm a.d. Vršac

eKapija.com Beograd

Grad Šabac