At TAPI, advancing health from the core also means protecting the environment at the core of everything we do. Across our Teva Tech site, we’ve launched a bold initiative to transform sustainability from a checklist into a culture, embedding greener practices into every aspect of manufacturing. 

From Program to Culture 

In the past, sustainability lived mainly in the domain of EHS&S. Today, it’s a cross-departmental mission, driven by a dedicated site-wide sustainability team. By bringing together expertise from engineering, operations, production, and beyond, we’ve sparked new levels of engagement, creativity, and ownership. Every employee has the opportunity to contribute—and every idea matters. 

The goal? To be sustainable in sustainability—making continuous improvement an everyday mindset. 

Innovation Meets Responsibility 

Our cross-functional approach has already led to tangible improvements: 

• Energy efficiency: Installing variable frequency drives (VFDs), optimizing compressors, and upgrading chillers. 

• Leak detection with next-gen tools: Using thermal, 360°, and sound cameras to spot and eliminate hidden leaks in nitrogen, air, and steam systems. 

• Green electricity: Since April 2024, Teva Tech has been powered exclusively by renewable energy, with IREC certification in progress. 

• Zero-liquid discharge mindset: Real-time monitoring of emissions, advanced wastewater treatment, and solvent recovery built into every new product. 

• Paperless production: Piloting electronic batch records to eliminate paper use and streamline compliance. 

• Smarter waste management: Campaigns for separation and recycling of plastics, metals, batteries, and more. 

These projects are designed not only to reduce energy, water, nitrogen, and steam consumption by 5–15% per year, but also to ensure measurable reductions in Scope 1 & 2 GHG emissions. 

A Win for Customers and Communities 

For our customers, sustainability is a shared priority. By reducing GHG emissions in all our sites in TAPI, we are helping our partners to achieve their ESG targets. At the same time, our initiatives strengthen supply reliability, reduce costs, and ensure compliance with local and global regulations. Beyond numbers, this program is shaping how our people think, act, and innovate. Every new project now runs through the lens of sustainability, making greener operations our standard way of working. 

Looking Ahead 

We see this as just the beginning. From exploring on-site energy storage to scaling AI-enabled monitoring systems, the journey to a greener future is ongoing. Most importantly, sustainability at TAPI is no longer just a department, it’s a shared responsibility and a source of pride. 

As a provider, partner, and pioneer, we are setting a new benchmark for green API manufacturing — one that benefits our industry, our customers, and the communities we live in. 

At TAPI, advancing health from the core doesn’t only apply to the products we manufacture, it also shapes how we operate. Safety is a fundamental ingredient in our processes, and continuously improving how we identify and manage risk is key to that mission. As part of our evolving Process Safety Management (PSM) program, we recently delivered an in-depth training series focused on the new global guideline for Hazard and Operability Studies (HAZOP). 

This new HAZOP procedure—GDE-05-513.01—is a critical tool to strengthen risk awareness, hazard identification, and cross-functional alignment. The training was designed not only to reinforce the new methodology, but also to embed it effectively across TAPI’s operational, technical, and safety communities. 

A Tiered Training for Targeted Impact 

The program was structured into two distinct training paths to meet the needs of different stakeholder groups: 

• Core 2-Day Training (8 hours each day): This deep-dive track was delivered to EHS managers and specialists, HAZOP facilitators, process safety managers, and project engineers—those responsible for initiating, leading, and guiding HAZOPs in high-impact scenarios. The sessions covered all elements of the updated procedure, including facilitation techniques, risk ranking using TAPI’s proprietary matrix, and documentation best practices. 

• 3-Hour Awareness Session: Aimed at regular HAZOP participants from our sites, including MS&T, operations, maintenance, and instrumentation teams. This session introduced the methodology, roles and expectations, and the rationale behind the updated approach, ensuring stronger participation and understanding during future studies. 

Both sessions focused on creating a consistent, compliant, and collaborative risk review culture across TAPI. 

What’s New in the HAZOP Standard 

HAZOP is a structured team-based method to systematically evaluate deviations from intended process conditions and identify risks before they materialize. The new standard outlines a detailed, step-by-step methodology that brings several enhancements to our previous approach: 

1. Stronger Team Composition & Roles 

The updated guideline defines clear competency-based roles for each participant, including the HAZOP Facilitator, Scribe, Process and Instrumentation Engineers, EHS professionals, Operators, MS&T specialists, and even vendor representatives. The training emphasized how each of these voices brings critical insights to ensure a comprehensive evaluation. 

2. Defined Risk Assessment Criteria 

Participants were trained on TAPI’s risk matrix methodology, which combines likelihood and severity to generate a quantifiable risk score. The matrix includes specific thresholds for “Acceptable,” “Tolerable (ALARP),” and “Unacceptable” risks, helping teams prioritize follow-up actions and investments. 

3. Barriers, Safeguards, and the ALARP Principle 

The new training also clarified how to assess the validity of safeguards, known as barriers. To be considered valid, a barrier must be effective, independent, and auditable. For example, operator actions can only be considered safeguards under strict timing and training conditions. Additionally, the ALARP (As Low As Reasonably Practicable) concept was explored in detail for medium-risk scenarios—providing a defensible framework for when additional controls may no longer be justified. 

4. Documentation and Closeout 

An important part of the new guideline is ensuring clear, traceable documentation. Participants were guided through the new HAZOP Worksheet template, which captures deviations, causes, consequences, safeguards, and recommendations. The follow-up process—including assigning action owners, using tracking tools, and reporting progress to site leadership—was also emphasized. 

Online Access via Process Safety (PS) Academy 

To support long-term learning and implementation, the content from this training will soon be available as digital learning modules on the PS Academy platform. This enables easy access for onboarding new team members, refreshing knowledge, and fostering a consistent global safety culture. 

Why It Matters 

A well-executed HAZOP doesn’t just meet compliance—it actively prevents incidents. It is one of the most powerful tools we have to protect people, products, and the planet. By investing in deeper training and applying a standardized global methodology, we’re reinforcing our commitment to excellence in every facet of operations. 

At TAPI, safety is a shared responsibility. This training equips our teams to uphold that responsibility, bringing science, rigor, and teamwork to the forefront of every process. 

Last year, Teva api’s R&D leadership team got together to brainstorm about what could be done on a departmental level to make a substantial environmental impact. As a result of this meeting, a new “community” was formed called the R&D Green Community, and over the last year it has established many initiatives.  

The mission of the community is to identify and propose actions, technologies, and initiatives – within both the global and local sphere – aimed at reducing the environmental impact of activities performed in the Teva api R&D department. It also aims to promote a green culture within the department and create value out of green initiatives.  

Four distinct groups were created as part of the community, to tackle four different areas: 

      1.Energy  

The energy group aims to improve energy efficiency in the labs and pilot plants. It maps how the energy is being used and finds opportunities where the team can decrease energy consumption and where older technologies can be changed with newer, more modern technologies.  

For example, optimization of HVAC systems, conversion of Diesel based generators into dual mode with 70 % Piped Natural Gas and 30 % High Speed Diesel (HSD), reviewing the possibility of changing florescent lights to LED ones, replacing old refrigerators and freezers & replacement of R22 refrigerant, changing fume hoods that aren’t well-regulated, and working out how to utilize excess energy elsewhere.  

        2.Technology 

The technology group evaluates existing technologies, and suggests new technologies, solvents and catalysts. Examples of this in action are the use of continuous manufacturing in chemical processes and the successful implementation at GMP scale.  

The group also looks at water usage in the department and evaluates how to minimize or replace water. Their work has led to the installation of a centrally cooled glycol circuit (-15 to -8°C) for cooling small laboratory equipment such as evaporator coolers and EasyMax’s reactors to replace use of water-cooled thermostats.  

The below image illustrates the benefit of applying a technology where the products are manufactured in a continuous manner without isolation, thus reducing the effluent load on environment. The upper image shows traditional round flasks producing high effluent load which causes environmental issues. The lower image shows a continuous tube where, without isolation and without creating an effluent burden on the environment, production can occur.   

        3. Metrics  

This group has developed a computational tool for sustainability evaluation. The tool quantitively assesses the greenness and sustainability of a chemical process and gives a sustainability score between 1 and 100. 

Below shows what the scores reflect. 

The score considers multiple elements, including PMI, solvent selection, energy consumption, toxicity of materials, safety, atom economy, and process risks. 

Its aim is to enable chemists to make greener choices and to design chemical processes with improved efficiency and a lower environmental impact.   

Here is an example of a sustainability score evaluation for the amide formation reaction: 

        4.Value and Proposition  

This group works on networking, sustainability initiatives, and finding collaborations in and out of the organization.  

One such initiative is the Greeny award, a new annual award that encourages sustainability in the research and development facilities of Teva api R&D. The award is given to those who minimize or eliminate the environmental impact of processes in the R&D department, while also promoting a culture of greenness. It’s a celebration of innovation and creativity. 

Well done Teva api R&D team on this meaningful initiative! We hope you continue to make a significant environmental impact going forward into 2024.  

Our commitment to making a positive impact is at the heart of everything we do. Producing quality active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) so that our customers can create high-quality medicines, depends on us operating responsibly, ethically, and transparently.

In light of the 2019 Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Progress Report released by Teva this last week, here’s an overview of the ESG journey Teva api has taken over the last 5 years.

Achievements we’re proud of

In the last 5 years, we’ve reduced our Total Recordable Incident Rate (TRIR) by 80%, our Process Safety Event Rate by 60%, and the number of significant spills by 75%. We’ve also increased the reporting of near-misses (of accidents) by over 500%, enabling us to properly investigate the potential causes of a serious accident. We had over 21,000 EHS&S observations each year for the past two years that either led to immediate corrections of minor risks or encouraged improved practices.

In terms of environmental impact, we’ve reduced our waste generation by over 50%, and by 10% (9,350 metric tons) since 2018. To fight water scarcity, we’re doing our best to reduce our water usage, with a reduction of 10% (215,560 cubic meters) since 2018.

Our investment

We’ve invested a significant portion of our capital expenditure – over 100 million dollars – to reduce the biggest risks. These include major fire protection improvements, and securing dedicated and protected storage for chemicals.

We’ve improved our engineering controls to reduce the risk of potent compound exposure for our employees. We’ve minimized our environmental footprint with wastewater treatment plant improvements, and we are optimizing our environmental control units to minimize emissions of volatile organic compounds in the atmosphere.

Improving processes

We’ve introduced many new processes, with incredible support from our site managers and operations leadership, who fully embraced our goals and our mindset. We ran a process safety management survey with all of our sites and published safe-handling guidelines for highly toxic hazardous materials. We also implemented process safety management standards across all of the sites and created a comprehensive training program for our employees.

Our motivation

The road to EHS&S excellence is long and sometimes bumpy, but what matters is to stay focused on our goals and vision to ‘Target Zero’, which means zero accidents, zero injuries, and zero releases (spills and accidental discharges).

I truly believe that each initiative and every process we’ve implemented is another step in helping us to reach that goal and we are aiming to become a reference for excellence in the pharma industry.

Social initiatives to reduce our environmental footprint

We’ve always got different projects going on within the different sites, and our teams are keen to get involved in social initiatives.

Just one example comes from our Gajraula site, where approximately 100 employees recently volunteered to help clean the Ganga river (India’s longest river). People in India regard this river as a goddess and believe that the water is holy. The Indian government is taking an active interest in cleaning the water, and various funds have been set up to support the cause.

The Teva api team collected about 2.0 metric tons of biodegradable and non-biodegradable waste from the river. The biodegradable waste was then buried to be used as compost, and the non-biodegradable waste was set aside to be recycled. It was a great day for a great cause.

To access the Teva 2019 Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Progress Report, click here

Any manufacturing process has inherent safety risks, so it is essential to identify and reduce potential hazards before production begins. At Teva api, we are always looking for ways to improve methods and ensure best practices, and that includes making our manufacturing plants even safer, to protect our employees and keep production on schedule.

Identifying, assessing, and characterizing intended and, more importantly, unintended chemical reactions are critical to ensure safe process scale-up and different unit operations. Two years ago Teva api R&D began developing an innovative method that would pinpoint risk factors early on – during the design process – so we could recommend preventive safety measures before production got underway. We call it Safety by Design (SbD) based on the methodology used for pharmaceutical Quality by Design principles, which use a scientific approach to control product quality and process robustness (FDA 2008, Guidance for Industry: Q8 (R2) Pharmaceutical Development). SbD follows a similar method, using computer-aided process design and simulation tools to integrate safety, quality and productivity throughout the product lifecycle.

While SbD is still in the early stages of implementation, results are promising in the pilot and production plants that are following this process. They are successfully using this comprehensive data to minimize hazards, control health and safety risks. Teva api’s commitment to target zero safety incidents with the implementation of this new model has distinct advantages for customers. In comparisons to API manufacturing facilitates without systematic safety procedures, SbD reduces development time, which helps make the process more efficient. It enables Teva api to continue producing the high quality products our customers expect and delivering them without interruption.

Simulations and modelling are the backbone of Safety by Design

Most organic API synthesis processes are exothermic, meaning they produce heat. During production, excess heat must be removed to prevent possible undesired scenarios. In addition to being a safety issue for workers, the facility and the environment, excess heat can produce impurities, which affect active pharmaceutical ingredient quality.

We use reaction calorimetry to measure the maximal temperature of synthetic reaction (MTSR) and differential and/or adiabatic calorimetry to measure the critical temperatures to find the temperature of decomposition. The measurement is rated on a scale with five (5) classifications (Francis Stoessel: Thermal Safety of Chemical Processes: Risk Assessment and Process Design, Wiley 2008.). For example, a Class 1 process is considered safe – a temperature increase would not be considered dangerous. Class 5 represents the highest level of risk. If a cooling failure occurred, the molecules could decompose causing a thermal explosion. In Class 5 scenarios, the process either needs to be redesigned during development to reduce the criticality level, or additional safety measures need to be implemented during production.

In creating Safety by Design, our goal was to take the traditional approach to the next level. We developed a more comprehensive method using process simulation tools and mathematical models to predict real case scenarios in production. We know that calorimetric measurement can also provide kinetic data, and when supported with other analytical tools it can be used to determine reaction rates and potential side or runaway reactions. Combining the heat and mass transfer, thermodynamics, and the kinetics of the reactions, models can determine whether a process will be safe or unsafe. We can then easily adapt the findings to the operating conditions and equipment in a particular plant in a specific country.

By developing sophisticated computer models with process simulators, we learned that in the early phase of process development, we could predict and prevent hazards, control risks and help optimize the overall process. A systematic approach helped us gain a better understanding of potential safety issues by considering the reactants used in the process, their physical and chemical properties, the process conditions, heat and gas evolution, the equipment used in the process during the development stage, and finally, scale-up to production.

Case studies: How SbD reduced risk in API production

In two early test cases, process evaluation and modeling validated the importance of identifying potential hazards and engineering solutions during lab development.

Removing thermal instability: After running a specific API product through a safety assessment, the adiabatic calorimeter results indicated that process criticality was Class 5 due to the decomposition of solvent, DMSO. Further simulations also predicted that the process criticality would reach the highest risk. Redesign of the process is performed using different solvents and SbD evaluations to make the process safer. When we substituted the solvent DMSO with DMAc, the heat and pressure generation from secondary reactions dropped significantly and lowered process criticality to a much safer Class 2. The recommended solvent change increased operation safety without impacting product quality.

Reducing reaction conditions: We experienced a similar outcome when we ran a specific API product, one step through the SbD process simulation. When the solvent DMSO was used in the reaction mixture, the models showed the rate of heat generation could quickly rise to unsafe levels, making the process potentially thermally unstable (Class 4-5). By replacing DMSO with DMF in the process simulation, the reaction mixture safely stabilized without any safety risk (Class 1) and avoiding production delay.

In both cases, comprehensive evaluation during process design provided a clearer understanding of the potential dangers and gave us the opportunity to develop much safer solutions. In production, the solvent changes were successful and much safer, without impacting product quality or cost.

Continuous improvement makes best practices even better

In order to help us bring to our customers the best quality product in the most cost-effective manner, Teva api continuously pursues better methods and more advanced technologies to stay ahead of the curve. Safety by Design is a different approach – it elevates process safety to the same level of importance as product quality and environmental impact. But most importantly, it provides a framework for saving lives, preventing injuries and producing safe, high quality APIs for the most efficient and timely product delivery for our customers worldwide.

At Teva api, we believe everyone has the right to a safe and healthy work environment, free from workplace injuries and illnesses. From the earliest stages of product R&D all the way to large-scale production, our processes and plants are designed with safety in mind to protect both employees and residents nearby.

Since 2015, as part of our aspiration to EHS excellence, towards Target Zero we made some significant improvement on our journey by reducing the Teva api OSHA recordable rate by over 62% while increasing significantly the near-misses and unsafe situations reporting to better prevent incident.

Facility safety. Our laboratories and production sites adhere to local regulations and Teva api high-level standards. We make sure both company employees and external sub-contractors follow our stringent safety procedures. Teva api has made a significant investment in the installation and maintenance of advanced safety equipment and state-of-the-art fire protection systems for its facilities.

Product handling guidelines. Employees who produce APIs may need to handle hazardous materials during the production process. Teva api has detailed guidelines for the safe handling of APIs and drugs, which are periodically reviewed and updated.

Communications and training. We hold employee training sessions at relevant sites on the safe handling of APIs and other chemical hazards, and we make sure employees are up to date on changing regulations.

Teva api is a division of Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, the global generic pharmaceutical leader and one of the world’s top 15 pharmaceutical companies.

As a division of Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., Teva api is committed to Teva’s global approach to community giving, which encourages employees around the world to make a difference in their communities. Teva api’s employees proudly participate through volunteerism and donations that support local causes.

Teva’s Global Approach

Teva is committed to improving global healthcare by enhancing access to medicines and contributing to the well-being of communities in which we live and operate. We support thousands of employees who volunteer in their communities in multiple ways.

Teva focuses community engagement efforts on:

• Enhancing access to affordable medicines, health and well-being
• Promoting science and science education
• Responding to local needs

Investment and involvement in local communities is an essential part of Teva’s corporate social responsibility. At many Teva api sites around the world, employees spearhead community involvement projects based on local needs through:

• Partnerships with local leading non-profit organizations to advance social causes, supported by specific community solidarity activities.
• Volunteering in the communities where Teva api employees live and work. We encourage employees worldwide to donate their time and expertise to deepen our relationship with patients and communities.
• Donations to projects worldwide that improve health and well-being, support science education and other community needs.

Read more about Teva’s global approach to community giving.