On-site industrial wastewater treatment provider Axine Water Technologies has signed a multiyear service agreement with a leading pharmaceutical manufacturer to treat wastewater at their manufacturing plant located in the US Midwest. The wastewater, which is contaminated with active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) and solvents, is currently trucked off-site and incinerated.
Under the agreement, Axine will design, build, own, operate and maintain an on-site wastewater treatment system at the customer's facility. The system, based on Axine's proprietary electrochemical oxidation technology, will destroy the APIs so the treated water can be safely discharged to sewer.
The Axine solution will enable the pharmaceutical plant to generate immediate savings, improve operational efficiency, eliminate over 100,000 miles of trucking, eliminate more than 8 million pounds of waste incineration and reduce greenhouse gas emissions over the term of the agreement.
The agreement follows successful treatability testing to verify the cost and performance of Axine's technology to treat the customer's wastewater to meet local municipal wastewater permit requirements. Development and commercialization of Axine's technology is supported by the National Research Council of Canada – Industrial Research Assistance Program (NRC – IRAP) and Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC).
"Axine's innovative wastewater treatment technology is addressing a global problem in the pharmaceutical industry that will ensure safe treatment of wastewater amongst a wide range of sustainability, productivity and health benefits," said SDTC's President and CEO, Leah Lawrence. "We're very pleased to support Axine's scale-up efforts to compete in international markets using cutting edge technologies to advance sustainability efforts around the world."
"Pharmaceutical companies worldwide have committed to reducing the environmental impact of their manufacturing operations," said Axine's President and CEO, Jonathan Rhone. "This project is a great example of how Axine is establishing a new standard of care for treating APIs in pharmaceutical manufacturing waste streams to help the pharmaceutical industry achieve its sustainability goals while reducing the cost, risk and impact of pharmaceuticals in the environment."
