Implementing Sustainability Programs:

1. Implementing Sustainability Programs: Case Studies from the Field Megan Maltenfort, Sustainability Manager VWR International, LLC

2. VWR Corporate Overview • VWR… • Founded over 150 years ago • One of the largest distributors of lab supplies in the world • 8,000 associates in over 25 countries • $4.1 billion in sales (2011) Mission: To enable the advancement of science throughout the world

3. Common Customer Sustainability Requests

4. Case Study: Customer Tote Programs What’s the problem? Source: wh1.com

5. Case Study: Customer Tote Programs • What Distributor’s Customer sees: • Reduced waste- packaging & cardboard- less clutter in lab • Positive impact to sustainability goals- metrics are favorable • Problem Solved- Right? • What the Distributor sees: • Increased waste at Distributor’s facilities- packaging & cardboard • Negative impact to Distributor’s sustainability goals • Totes are heavier than cardboard  impacts fuel efficiency during transport • Totes break and need to be repaired and replaced- increased costs/waste • Totes are not returned and need to be replaced • Packing products on totes is not easily integrated into distribution process Customers may not see full environmental impact Impacts are not eliminated only shifted along the supply chain

6. Key Challenges • How do you give the customer what they want when it does not fit your business model • Example- Delivering product in carts to reduce waste at customer sites • How do you help customers see sustainability from broader perspectives • Balancing customer sustainability initiatives with your own • Customers may ask for services that are detrimental to your own program  this forces you to look up the supply chain

7. Developing Successful Tote Programs • Supplier ships product in tote to avoid disposable packaging from beginning • Customer ships empty totes directly back to supplier • Distributor does not generate waste from detrashing and does not have to store and manage totes • More streamlined, efficient, and implementable solution Create closed loop program where suppliers are involved

8. Engaging Suppliers to Reduce Waste Solution: Engage upstream partners to fix downstream problems Inspired by Toyota- Kaizens and lean thinking (Japanese for "improvement" or "change for the better”)- expand from internal exercise to external with distributors and customers In a Distributor’s Customer Survey about Waste and Recycling: #1 Complaint was Packaging Waste

9. Common Customer Sustainability Requests

10. Balancing Product Sustainability and Costs Price of “Average” Product Price of “Environmentally Preferable” Product

11. Low Cost Environmentally Preferable Products (EPPs) Many companies are creating branded EPPs which are lower cost • EPA-defined environmentally preferable attributes • Across Industries: Grainger, Office Max, VWR • Cost-competitive EPPs Within Our Industry: Centrifuges (recycled content), • pipettips (bio-based), freezers (energy efficient) Durable Energy efficient Recycled content Reconditioned Recyclable Easily Disassembled Take-back Water efficient Reusable Bio-based

12. Common Customer Sustainability Requests

13. Product Recycling and Take-Back Solutions Garment recycling Pipet tip box recycling Chemical recycling Glove recycling Equipment recycling/take-back Advantages: • Can reduce waste in supply chain and help customers achieve sustainability goals • Can provide customized solutions to customers to create “stickiness” • Can make money by providing these services

14. Key Drivers of Sustainability Success • Collaboration & transparency with customers and suppliers • Sharing of best practices & mistakes • Partners are at different stages of the journey- be motivational, patient, and supportive • Increasing efficiency and reducing waste is a win for all • Look at the big picture & think holistically

15. Thank You! Megan Maltenfort Sustainability Manager, VWR International megan_maltenfort@vwr.com 610-386-1228 Questions….