Life Technologies Releases Global Citizenship Report with ...

Life Technologies Releases Global Citizenship Report with Product Sustainability Information

Products Now Incorporate Design-for-Environment Principles to Reduce Impact

CARLSBAD, Calif., Jul 07, 2010 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Life Technologies Corporation (NASDAQ:LIFE), a provider of innovative life science solutions, has released its 2009 Global Citizenship Report , highlighting Life Technologies’ organization-wide initiatives to be a leading corporate citizen and balance environmental and social issues with its overall mission to shape biological discovery and ultimately improve life.

Featuring product-level information about the company’s redesigned and environmentally sensitive development, manufacturing and distribution processes, the report also highlights Life Technologies’ efforts to be on the cutting edge of conservation while remaining a global leader in corporate social responsibility.

"We believe that for our business to revolutionize science, we must balance that with a commitment to leadership in environmental and social issues," said Cristina Amorim, Vice President of Global Citizenship at Life Technologies. "We continue to pursue new ways to help our customers and our company conserve resources, showing how global citizenship and responsibility can drive operational efficiency."

This report highlights the company’s Product Stewardship program and Design-for-Environment principles that have helped drive major changes throughout a product’s life cycle. Life Technologies recently launched its Re:sponsibility Program , which provides customers with detailed information to help them identify and choose products that can help reduce their environmental impact. These product development initiatives include:

• Revisited shipping conditions and new, more sustainable packaging for certain consumables-- Based upon extensive research into product stability, quality and performance, Taqman(R) Genomic Assays now ship at ambient temperatures rather than frozen, eliminating more than 100,000 Styrofoam(R) coolers and approximately 500,000 pounds of dry ice per year ( White Paper PDF ).
• Reduced use of hazardous material -- Many instruments and consumables have been designed to use less hazardous material and generate less waste than comparative products during their usage life.
• Reengineered instruments for energy and space consumption -- Many systems have been designed to be more energy and space efficient and use less raw materials than their predecessors, including several new Real-Time PCR Systems that have been designed to be over 50 percent more energy efficient than their predecessors.

Life Technologies’ 2009 Global Citizenship Report (PDF) also includes broader information on all of the company’s corporate environmental and social responsibility initiatives. This is Life Technologies’ first citizenship report to be prepared within the Global Reporting Initiative Generation 3 framework, with expanded transparency into the company’s goals and progress in science, ethics, people, environment and community.

The report includes information on:

• Company-wide facility conservation initiatives that resulted in substantial 2009 reductions, including a six percent reduction in energy use, a five percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions and a 19 percent reduction in water intake, saving the company more than $4 million.
• Continued pursuit of LEED ( Leadership in Energy and Environment Design ) certification at the Carlsbad headquarters, which is set to save 20 million gallons of water this year through a program with the San Diego County Water Authority . The Pleasanton and Shanghai Demonstration Lab facilities are already LEED certified.
• Retrofitting building and product refrigeration systems with high-efficiency motors for energy conservation and reengineering facilities to recycle water.
• New employee programs in safety, health and wellness emphasizing better lifestyle choices and exercise that have helped reduced sick time among employees by 14 percent this year.
• A new Giving Back at Life program aimed at facilitating community service participation in Life Technologies’ workforce, with employees on track to donate more than 25,000 volunteer hours this year.
• More than $300 million invested annually in research and development that addresses some of the most pressing issues of the 21st Century, such as scarcity of resources, water and food security, disease and biodiversity loss, areas where biotechnology can help make life even better.

To download a PDF and read the report in its entirety, please click here .

About Life Technologies ( http://www.lifetech.com )

Life Technologies Corporation (NASDAQ:LIFE) is a global biotechnology tools company dedicated to improving the human condition. Our systems, consumables and services enable researchers to accelerate scientific exploration, driving to discoveries and developments that make life even better. Life Technologies customers do their work across the biological spectrum, working to advance personalized medicine, regenerative science, molecular diagnostics, agricultural and environmental research, and 21st century forensics. Life Technologies had sales of $3.3 billion in 2009, employs approximately 9,000 people, has a presence in 160 countries, and possesses a rapidly growing intellectual property estate of approximately 3,900 patents and exclusive licenses. Life Technologies was created by the combination of Invitrogen Corporation and Applied Biosystems Inc., and manufactures both in-vitro diagnostic products and research use only-labeled products. For more information on how we are making a difference, please visit us online at http://www.lifetechnologies.com . Follow Life Technologies on Twitter @LIFECorporation and on Facebook .