Abbott Laboratories

Abbott Laboratories is an American healthcare company founded in 2019. Its main office is located in Abbott Park, Illinois. The company's line of business comprises medical devices, diagnostics, nutrition, diabetes care, cardiovascular care, and generic drugs. Robert B. Ford is the firm's Chairman and CEO. Because many of its critical operations are connected with high-quality manufacturing water, water use is a critical component of Abbott's ESG management strategy.

Recently, the company has been improving its water stewardship practices at its water-stressed facilities. In particular, the company's Tlajapan, Mexico facility has received Alliance for Water Stewardship's Core certification in 2024, becoming Abbott's seventh high-water-use site to be awarded the organization's recognition. This step demonstrated that the site met global standards of water governance, sustainable water balance, water quality, and water-sensitive issues such as habitat protection and water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH). Besides, in 2024, Abbott announced the completion of several water-saving initiatives at its Karachi, Pakistan facility. It included the optimization of water treatment processes and systems, installation of new monitoring equipment, and implementation of control protocols for its cooling towers. This initiative is expected to reduce water consumption by 41 million liters and achieve a 10% reduction in the overall water footprint of the site.

Finally, in 2024, Abbott's Plymouth, Minnesota, and Irvine, California, facilities have initiated the transition to more drought-resistant landscaping plants and irrigation systems. They are also expected to bring down water consumption by up to 7 million liters per year for landscaping purposes. To conclude, the company's primary sustainability accomplishment in the water area is the integration of water stewardship principles via certification, sustainability practices at the level of individual sites, and risk-based water management approaches. In particular, the company was able to decrease the water footprint at high-risk sites and scale its water sustainability practices across all its manufacturing facilities.