Performance Report

Ecology

Throughout its history, Bayer has always placed great importance on protecting the environment. We are continuously on the lookout for solutions to ensure that economic growth is not tied to resource consumption and the generation of emissions and waste. We consider that we have an obligation to use both our technological know-how and the expertise we have invested in our innovative products to protect the environment, natural resources and the climate.

Energy consumption

The Bayer Group’s energy consumption in 2008 was approximately 2.9 percent lower than in the previous year. The volume of products sold fell by approximately six percent over the same period. While energy consumption and volume of products sold are linked, they do not follow a simple relationship. A large number of parameters have to be taken into account such as the proportion of different product types, changes in manufacturing processes and material flows. We are continuing to pursue the goal of efficient energy use. To this end, we are researching innovative technologies, investing in modern plants and efficient processes, and taking steps to save energy. In order to identify potential energy savings in existing plants, we are applying the Bayer Climate Check and implementing measures through our “Managing Energy Efficiency” lighthouse project

. Many of these measures will make themselves felt in the energy and greenhouse gas balances in the coming years

The drop in total energy consumption to 82.8 petajoules is attributable to various causes: Site consolidation and energy efficiency measures resulted in energy savings. Other reasons were production cutbacks for economic reasons and temporary shutdowns, for example owing to restructuring.

Absolute energy consumption

	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008
Absolute energy consumption (petajoules)	85.2	82.4	80.5	85.3	82.8
Volume of products sold (million metric tons)	9.1	9.7	10.1	10.6	10.0

The basis for calculating energy consumption was altered, which is why figures indicated here for previous years differ from those reported in past publications.

The calculation of the total energy consumed by the Bayer Group, of 82.8 petajoules (equivalent to 23.0 terawatt hours), can be explained by looking at the energy balance sheet for 2008: The starting point is the consumption of primary energy and other energy sources for in-house energy generation. The sum of this is indicated as the primary energy conversion. To this is added the amount of steam from waste heat and electricity procured (excluding amounts passed on to third parties). This results in the total energy conversion. Subtracting the amount of steam and refrigeration energy sold to third parties leads to the total energy consumed by Bayer.

Reliable energy supply thanks to modern power plants

When investing in our energy supply, we focus on solutions that are in line with energy and climate policy while also being feasible in economic terms. We consider the best solution for supplying energy to CHEMPARK Krefeld-Uerdingen, Germany, to be a new 750 megawatt coal-fired power plant, which will be constructed by the energy provider Trianel and for whose technical operation CURRENTA will be responsible. The power plant will be state-of-the-art and will employ the combined heat and power principle to maximize power generation efficiency. The plant will operate at an efficiency level of approximately 57 percent, making it one of the most efficient coal-fired power plants of this size.

Efficient water use

Bayer recognizes the critical importance of diligent water resource management

. We strive to keep our consumption as low as possible and to reuse water multiple times wherever technically feasible. In 2008, we were able to maintain water use throughout the Group at the level of previous years at approximately 1.2 million cubic meters per day.

The sites take over half of the water they need from surface water; about one third comes from underground sources (generally groundwater). At 1.0 million cubic meters per day, through-flow cooling water accounts for the largest proportion of our water use. Since this water is only heated during use and does not come into contact with any products, it can subsequently be discharged into the water supply without further treatment, provided maximum temperature limits are observed.

Bayer was the recipient in January 2009 of the Brazilian Environment Award for its efficient water management system at the Belford Roxo site in Brazil. By recycling wastewater and reusing river water to meet their process water requirements, Bayer MaterialScience and Bayer CropScience are achieving savings in excess of 2,700 cubic meters of water at Belford Roxo every day.

Net water use by source

	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008
Water use (million m³ / d)	1.29	1.24	1.20	1.23	1.20
of which from surface water (percent)	60	54	53	57	58
of which from surface water (percent)	33	35	35	32	32
of which from public drinking water supplies (percent)	5	2	2	2	1
of which from other sources, e. g. rainwater (percent)	2	9	9	9	9

Use of materials and recycling

Bayer uses a large number of different starting products and raw materials of highly variable volumes in its subgroups and service companies. To keep the consumption of materials to a minimum, we try wherever technically feasible and justifiable on cost grounds to utilize materials in closed loops. Recovery and recycling are not possible for a large number of our products, such as pharmaceuticals and crop protection agents.

However, in many production processes we employ technologies that enable certain materials to be recycled. One example is at Bayer HealthCare’s Bergkamen site in Germany, where the iodine released during the incineration of waste from the production of x-ray contrast media is bound and extracted in the form of a marketable iodide solution. Wherever technically possible, we prepare solvents by distillation and reuse them in our processes.

In addition, in September 2008, Bayer MaterialScience brought the new plastic recyclate Levblend® onto the market. The potential uses for Levblend® include plastic components for the automotive industry.

Another example is the Bayer MaterialScience technology known as the oxygen depolarized cathode method, which is used to recover chlorine from hydrochloric acid. Since 2008, this energy-saving technology has been in operation – for the first time on a world scale – at the Bayer Integrated Site Shanghai in China, with an annual capacity of 215,000 metric tons of chlorine.

Scrap cable and metal generated during the major ongoing dismantlement projects at the German CHEMPARK sites are reused by the service company currenta.

Our media services provider Dynevo, a subsidiary of Bayer Business Services, processes paper from renewable forestry. In addition, Dynevo is authorized to manufacture products bearing the stringent “FSC” seal of quality, awarded by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC).

In order to further develop new approaches for climate protection and to counter the growing shortage of crude oil, our research activities also include investigating potential new applications for renewable raw materials. For example, Bayer MaterialScience is using proportionate amounts of refined sugars and vegetable oils in some polyurethane raw materials, which can be used in the production of car seats, shoe soles, floor coverings or mattresses. Bayer CropScience is also involved in opening up the potential offered by renewable raw materials.

Protecting biodiversity

Bayer unequivocally acknowledges the objectives of the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity and is taking various steps to implement them. These include agricultural technologies aimed at increasing yields in order to avoid the further need to turn natural habitats into farmland, steps to promote integrated crop management (ICM) and products to combat invasive species.

We use an internal approval process to prevent new production sites from being constructed in any area which is protected by the laws of the country concerned due to its natural uniqueness, diversity of species or other similar factors. The required minimum distances from protected areas are complied with in all cases. In order to limit land use, we apply land recycling. For example, CURRENTA is creating open spaces for new development at the CHEMPARK sites in Germany thanks to the demolition and safe disposal of buildings that are no longer used. Thus, demolition work in Leverkusen in 2008 made approximately eight hectares of land available for reuse.

As part of its corporate social responsibility activities, Bayer is implementing projects in the area of species protection at many of its sites. For example, Bayer CropScience is supporting the environmental protection organization “Ducks Unlimited” in its efforts to create habitats for waterfowl to aid their return to the North American prairies. A five-year initiative is to include the development of new varieties of seed for winter wheat in order to create better nesting conditions for wild birds thanks to increased winter wheat cultivation. Bayer is also a supporter of the organization “Friends of CMS”, which is involved in the protection of threatened animal species. With our financial support, it was possible to launch a project to preserve the mountain gorilla population in the Virunga National Park in the Republic of Congo. Another project supported by Bayer is aimed at the protection of migratory birds in Colombia.

Reduction of greenhouse gas emissions

In determining our greenhouse gas balance, we align ourselves to the international standard established in the Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Protocol. Greenhouse gas emissions from all previous years are calculated in terms of the current corporate structure in the year under review as described in the GHG Protocol, with the emissions adjusted retroactively to reflect acquisitions and divestments of companies / businesses.

Total greenhouse gas emissions in 2008 fell by 7.1 percent from the previous year. Direct greenhouse gas emissions fell by 9.9 percent, while indirect greenhouse gas emissions from energy procurement fell by 3.8 percent.

Greenhouse gas emissions*

	2005	2006	2007	2008
Direct emissions of greenhouse gases** (million metric tons of CO₂ equivalents)	4.63	4.57	4.44	4.00
Indirect emissions of greenhouse gases (million metric tons, CO₂ only)	3.52	3.67	3.71	3.57
Total greenhouse gas emissions (million metric tons of CO₂ equivalents)	8.15	8.24	8.15	7.57

* Portfolio-adjusted in accordance with the GHG Protocol. Changes compared to the Sustainable Development Report 2007 result from the inclusion of nitric acid production (see the text for further explanation).

** Composition of direct greenhouse gas emissions in 2008 (CO2equivalents): 92.1 percent CO2, 7.5 percent nitrous oxide (N2O), just under 0.4 percent partially fluorinated hydrocarbons

The reduction in direct greenhouse gas emissions (Scope 1 of the GHG Protocol) of 9.9 percent compared with 2007 is the result of changes in economic conditions and measures aimed at reducing emissions of nitrous oxide (N₂O), which is particularly harmful to the climate, at our nitric acid plant in Cologne-Worringen, Germany. This plant is operated by third parties but is owned by Bayer MaterialScience. MaterialScience changed the production process by steering operations (investing in emission reduction measures). Due to this operational steering process, we have an obligation, in accordance with the GHG Protocol, to include this plant in our greenhouse gas balance.

Indirect greenhouse gas emissions resulting from the generation of electricity and heat by external suppliers (Scope 2 of the GHG Protocol) fell in the reporting year by 3.8 percent compared with the previous year. When converting emissions to greenhouse gas equivalents, we follow the official conversion factors in the GHG Protocol. The change to the country-specific conversion factor (emissions per kilowatt hour) for electricity procurement in Germany (which was the result of a change in the German power supply) resulted in a significant reduction of indirect greenhouse gas emissions.

New method of presenting the greenhouse gas balance

As part of the Bayer Climate Program, climate goals were established for each subgroup up to 2020. In order to increase transparency when tracking the climate targets, starting with this Sustainable Development Report, emissions per subgroup will be presented as shown in the table, with specific emissions also being presented in the case of Bayer MaterialScience.

Bayer MaterialScience (BMS) has undertaken to reduce specific greenhouse gas emissions (metric tons of CO₂ equivalents per metric ton of sales product) by 25 percent worldwide between 2005 and 2020. This does not include sodium hydroxide solution and hydrochloric acid generated as by-products during the production process as these by-products will in future be generated in significantly lower amounts thanks to energy efficiency measures. Nor are trade products included.

Specific greenhouse gas emissions fell by 15.9 percent from 1.07 metric tons of CO₂ equivalents per metric ton of product in 2005 to 0.90 metric tons of CO₂ equivalents per metric ton of product in 2008. This is substantially due to measures implemented in the nitric acid production process in Cologne-Worringen, Germany, in 2007.

Bayer HealthCare (BHC) has undertaken to reduce absolute greenhouse gas emissions (metric tons of CO₂ equivalents) by five percent worldwide between 2005 and 2020. Between 2005 and 2008, absolute greenhouse gas emissions were reduced by 4.3 percent from 0.585 million metric tons of CO₂ equivalents to 0.56 million metric tons of CO₂ equivalents, despite an increase in production volume. Between 2005 and 2007, site consolidations accounted for a considerable part of this reduction. In addition, many individual efficiency measures contributed to energy savings.

Bayer CropScience (BCS) has the objective of reducing absolute greenhouse gas emissions (metric tons of CO₂ equivalents) by 15 percent worldwide between 2005 and 2020. While production has increased, greenhouse gas emissions within BCS fell by 2.2 percent from 0.89 million metric tons of CO₂ equivalents in 2005 to 0.87 million metric tons of CO₂ equivalents in 2008.

Due to their limited emissions, the service companies Bayer Technology Services and Bayer Business Services do not have any climate goals of their own. They are summarized under “Other.”

Bayer has a 60 percent share in currenta, the operator of the CHEMPARK sites. Therefore, all of CURRENTA’s direct greenhouse gas emissions are assigned to the Bayer Group in accordance with the GHG Protocol. To the extent that CURRENTA supplies Bayer companies with energy, the resultant emissions are allocated to the subgroups. The remaining emissions shown for CURRENTA result from the provision of energy to other companies at the CHEMPARK sites.

Due to measures implemented by the subgroups and economic factors, outages and new conversion tables for CO₂ emissions linked to electricity procured, emissions in the Group have fallen 7.1 percent from 8.15 million metric tons of CO₂ equivalents in 2005 to 7.57 million metric tons of CO₂ equivalents in 2008. Despite growth in production, the Bayer Group anticipates that greenhouse gas emissions by 2020 will remain at their 2007 level.

Greenhouse gas emissions for subgroups and service companies (total direct and indirect emissions in million metric tons of CO₂ equivalents)

	2005	2006	2007	2008	Target 2020
BMS	4.61	5.09	4.73	4.30	-
BHC	0.59	0.58	0.57	0.56	0.56
BCS	0.89	0.86	0.85	0.87	0.76
Other*	0.02	0.02	0.02	0.02	-
Currenta**	2.04	1.69	1.98	1.82	-
Group	8.15	8.24	8.15	7.57	8.15
Specific greenhouse gas emissions for BMS (metric tons of CO₂ equivalents per metric ton of product)	1.07	1.08	0.95	0.90	0.80

* Sum of the service companies Bayer Technology Services and Bayer Business Services

** The emissions shown for CURRENTA are attributable to the provision of energy to other companies at the CHEMPARK sites.

Emissions trading

In Europe, the Group was involved in European emissions trading with its own power stations for power generation in 2008. Emissions allowances for 2.5 million metric tons were required for the 11 plants.

In the United States, the Bayer Corporation is a voluntary participant in emissions trading on the Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX) with a number of its power stations. There, Bayer undertook to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by a total of six percent in the period from 2003 to 2010, with 2000 as the base year. This goal had already been achieved by the end of 2008.

Ozone-depleting substances

We are meeting our goal of keeping emissions of ozone-depleting substances (ODS) below a maximum level of 20 metric tons per year. However, while remaining beneath this target level, emissions did increase by approximately 16 percent over 2007 during the year under review. The biggest part of this increase is due to a rise in production volume at the Bayer CropScience site in Vapi, India.

* In CFC-11 equivalents

Volatile organic compounds

Emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOC) increased by just over 10 percent over the previous year. The increase resulted mainly from a significant increase in the production of intermediates and active substances for crop protection agents during 2008 at the Bayer CropScience site in Vapi, India. Emissions at this site had successfully been reduced over the previous years through a multi-year investment program aimed at reducing losses of solvents. Bayer CropScience will examine the degree to which the further reduction of VOC and ODS emissions at the Vapi site is technically possible.

* Target based on 2005 figures

Other air emissions

Other important air emissions from production and incineration processes, such as of carbon monoxide (CO), nitrous oxides (NO_x) and sulfur oxides (SO_x), were reduced, while emissions of particulates were maintained at the same level

At the Bayer HealthCare site in Bergkamen, Germany, the nox emissions level of the gas turbine was successfully reduced by 70 percent to 75 mg / Nm³ thanks to the changeover to an environment-friendly technology. As a result, the energy supply at the Bergkamen site is today already capable of meeting the emission limits of 75 mg / Nm³ that will apply from October 2012. The Bayer CropScience site in Vapi contributed to the reduction in sox emissions by changing the fuel mix in favor of a fuel with a lower sulfur content.

Other important air emissions (1,000 metric tons p. a.)

	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008
CO	1.9	1.7	2.2	2.0	1.7
NO_x	4.3	4.3	4.0	4.0	3.9
SO_x	4.2	4.5	3.8	3.6	3.2
Staub	0.5	0.3	0.2	0.2	0.2

Modern wastewater management

During the reporting period, Bayer discharged 68.4 million cubic meters of wastewater. Wastewater includes production wastewater, water from waste air treatment plants, contaminated cooling water from recooling plants, sanitary wastewater and rainwater that has come into contact with chemicals or combustible materials. It does not include through-flow cooling water. Of the total volume of wastewater generated, 79 percent was purified in a wastewater treatment plant, while 21 percent was discharged untreated into surface water due to the low level of contamination.

Emissions of nitrogen (nitrates and ammonium nitrogen) were approximately at the level of the previous year, while discharges of organic bound carbon – measured as total organic carbon (TOC) – were about 10 percent lower than the previous year. The fall in production mentioned above and improved wastewater monitoring at various sites were notable in this respect. For example, in 2008 Bayer CropScience invested in an upgrade to the oxygen feed into the biological wastewater treatment plant at the Institute site in the United States, as a result of which toc emissions were reduced significantly. Despite the positive developments, we have not yet achieved our goal of a reduction of TOC and nitrogen discharges into receiving bodies of water by 10 percent per metric ton of sales product (based on 2005 levels) by 2010. In the future, we will therefore continue to invest in optimized production and water purification processes

. This includes the addition of the second stage of the biological wastewater treatment plant at the Leverkusen site in Germany to remove nitrogen from the wastewater.

The discharge of phosphorus into surface waters has been reduced by approximately 21 percent from the previous year. This is attributable to measures such as improved wastewater monitoring at the Kansas City site in the United States and optimization of processes in the plastics production process at the Map Ta Phut site in Thailand. It is planned to implement equivalent process optimization measures at the Baytown site in the United States by the end of 2009.

The increases in the amounts of heavy metals discharged into wastewater in 2008 are due to more comprehensive wastewater reporting.

CURRENTA’s implementation of modern technologies at the German CHEMPARK sites contributes to the safe and environment-friendly disposal of wastewater, as well as to cost-effective active substance production. During the year under review, the capacity of the wastewater incineration plant at CHEMPARK Leverkusen rose by 50 percent. Thus, Bayer CropScience is able to dispose of non-biodegradable wastewater from the expanded active substance production in an environment-friendly manner. At the CHEMPARK Dormagen site, although the wastewater treatment plant remained unchanged in size, targeted oxygen feeds resulted in an increased degradation capability for Bayer CropScience wastewater.

In addition, CURRENTA is planning in a few years’ time to supply environment-friendly energy generated from industrial wastewater treatment sludge and liquid waste to the plants at the CHEMPARK Leverkusen site. In a pilot project, it was shown that 20,000 metric tons of dehydrated wastewater treatment sludge generated each year from the biological treatment of chemical wastewater can be used to generate biogas despite its chemical contamination, provided that a treatment process newly developed by CURRENTA is placed upstream.

Emissions into water (absolute)

	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008
Phosphorus (1,000 metric tons p. a.)	0.76	0.74	0.81	0.99	0.78
Nitrogen (1,000 metric tons p. a.)	0.89	0.58	0.73	0.68	0.67
TOC (1,000 metric tons p. a. of bound organic carbon)	2.20	1.49	1.49	1.77	1.59
Heavy metals (metric tons p. a.)	28.2	11.6	8.0	8.9	10.4
Inorganic salts (1,000 metric tons p. a.)	-	797	843	825	812

Emissions into water (kg per metric ton of sales product)

	2005	2006	2007	2008	Target*
Nitrogen	0.0596	0.0723	0.0642	0.0669	0.0536
TOC (total organic carbon)	0.153	0.147	0.167	0.159	0.138

* Based on 2005 figures

Waste generation and disposal

During the year under review, Bayer generated 1.08 million metric tons of waste worldwide, 16 percent more than in the previous year. Additional construction and demolition activities at three German locations, the CHEMPARK Leverkusen site, the Bayer HealthCare site in Elberfeld and the Wolfenbüttel site, which has now been sold, were primarily responsible for this.

The amount of hazardous waste generated in production was 11 percent higher than the previous year’s level and was to a large extent attributable to the Bayer CropScience sites in Dormagen, Germany; Kansas City, United States; and Muttenz, Switzerland, as well as to the Bayer HealthCare site in Bergkamen, Germany, where there was a significant increase in the volume of products and active substances manufactured. We are still 0.6 percentage points away from our goal of reducing the amount of hazardous production wastes to under 2.5 percent per metric ton of sales product, and must further strengthen our efforts to avoid waste. This goal corresponds to our efforts to reduce waste as a whole and further increase the proportion of starting products and materials recycled.

Waste generated (1,000 metric tons p. a.)

	2005	2006	2007	2008
Total waste generated	760	649	928	1,077
Hazardous waste generated*	351	336	342	365
Hazardous waste generated in production	221	234	275	305

* Definition of non-hazardous waste in accordance with local laws

Hazardous production waste (per metric ton of sales product)

	2005	2006	2007	2008	Ziel*
Hazardous production waste (percent per metric ton of sales product)	2,28	2,32	2,59	3,05	2,5

* Based on 2005 values

The total volume of waste disposed of increased by just under 14 percent in 2008, with the proportion of recycled waste increasing from 23 to 28 percent. However, the proportion of hazardous waste requiring removal to landfill fell by 20 percent. This is primarily attributable to the reduction of hazardous construction waste from the demolition activities at the German CHEMPARK sites and at the Bayer CropScience site in Knapsack, Germany.

The environment-friendly and legally conformant disposal of waste has a high priority at Bayer. It is also an important criterion for the assessment of new investments on the basis of our corresponding Group regulation.

Waste disposal* according to means of disposal

	2005	2006	2007	2008
Total volume of waste disposed of (1,000 metric tons p. a.)	848	654	931	1,061
of which removed to landfill (percent)	52	44	48	45
of which incineration (percent)	28	32	26	24
of which recycling (percent)	18	22	23	28
Waste that cannot be defi nitively categorized according to one of the above disposal methods (percent)	1	3	3	3
Landfilling of hazardous waste (1,000 metric tons p. a.)	211	134	101	81

* Only waste generated by Bayer

Reportable environmental incidents and transport accidents

Bayer classifies environmental incidents of a certain level of severity as “reportable environmental incidents” based on unified criteria. This term covers incidents that result in substances being released into the environment. These incidents are divided into two categories depending on the amount and type of the substance, the level of resultant damage, the impact on residents and reporting in the media:

Level 1 incidents (severe environmental incidents): An example of the criteria for this type of incident is a cost in excess of €2 million for repairing damage to plant, clean-up costs, etc.

Level 2 incidents (significant environmental incidents): Incidents are categorized as level 2 incidents if the resultant costs are at least €100,000 and at most €2 million.

Despite our comprehensive safety precautions and training, not all environmental incidents and transport accidents can be prevented. However, incidents and accidents are analyzed in detail and appropriate measures introduced in order to prevent such incidents in the future. In 2008, we recorded nine reportable environmental incidents, of which three were level 1 incidents and six were categorized as level 2.

In Wuppertal-Elberfeld, Germany, there was a release of ammonia at a Bayer HealthCare site. 30 people, including 22 Bayer employees and eight local residents, needed to remain under medical treatment for a temporarily period and were discharged from hospital on the same day. (Level 1)
A phosgene leak occurred at Bayer MaterialScience’s site in Baytown, United States. There were no injuries. (Level 1)
In Mato Grosso, Brazil, an entire Bayer CropScience load of crop protection agents was spilled from a truck following a serious traffic accident. The driver was killed. The accident site was cleaned up by a specialist company (see also “Transport accidents”). (Level 1)
Hydrochloric acid leaked from a defective tank at the Bayer MaterialScience site in New Martinsville, United States.
150 kg of ethylene oxide spilled from a railroad wagon at Bayer MaterialScience in Channelview, United States
At Bayer HealthCare’s Bergkamen site, Germany, a leak on the residue drainage valve resulted in approximately 50 liters of thionyl chloride being released during a pumping process from the tank farm to the active substance plant.
A leak was detected in a standing tank container at a loading terminal in Kiel, Germany. The contents (toluene diisocyanate, TDI) were pumped into a replacement container (see also “Transport accidents”). As a remedial measure, the entire series of tank containers is no longer in use at Bayer.
In the Bayer MaterialScience chlorine processing facility in Leverkusen, a small amount of chlorine was released. There were no injuries. The incident was reported in the local press.
Two employees were killed in an explosion and subsequent fire at Bayer CropScience’s site in Institute in the United State Measurements of the air at the site boundaries did not reveal any elevated environmental levels of hazardous substances. As a precaution, the incident was classified as an environmental incident.

Reportable environmental incidents (number p. a.)

2004	2005	2006	2007	2008
6	3	8	3	9*

* Correction compared to figure given in the Annual Report 2008 owing to improved information

During the period under review, we recorded 10 reportable transport accidents. These are recorded accidents involving transports of chemicals and products ordered and paid for by Bayer that meet certain criteria. These criteria include the spillage of a load (categorized according to the amount and dangerous goods class), the occurrence of fatal injury or the blockage of the transport route for a specified duration. During the period under review, eight road transport accidents occurred, with one accident occurring at sea and one during a rail shipment.

Two accidents resulted in the death of the driver: at Mato Grosso in Brazil (see also “Environmental incidents”) and at Baytown in the United States, when a truck loaded with isocyanate collided with another vehicle. Two further transport accidents resulted in substances being released: During load transfer operations on another company’s premises, transported goods from the Bayer MaterialScience site at Brunsbüttel, Germany, were damaged, resulting in product being released. The contents of one leaking tank container standing at a loading terminal in Kiel, Germany, were pumped into a replacement container (see also “Environmental incidents”).

In order to increase further the safety of our transport operations, we introduced a new Group regulation on transport safety in February 2009. The regulation defines the mandatory steps to be taken so that hazards can be avoided when preparing for and performing shipments of materials and products. We are also working directly with our carriers. For example, the Bayer MaterialScience teams in the Asia / Pacific region responsible for safety in the transport and distribution process perform not only numerous operational inspections but also health and safety training sessions with their logistics partners. In 2008, 51 customer training sessions of this type were conducted in China, Malaysia, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam.

Bayer CropScience has in past years implemented a comprehensive HSEQ qualification program with audits and appropriate training for safe materials handling in China and India. The standards achieved are regularly reviewed and reported annually. New suppliers undergo a corresponding certification process.