The First and Only LEED-Certified Chemical Manufacturing Facility in Massachusetts

At Waters, we are committed to improving our world through investing in initiatives that reduce our overall environmental footprint and positively impact the communities we’re a part of. For this reason, we’re so proud to celebrate our newly built Precision Manufacturing Facility in Taunton for becoming the first and only Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED)- Certified chemical manufacturing facility in Massachusetts. Since 2018, Waters has invested more than $215M to build this state-of-the-art facility and center of excellence that manufactures chemistry products essential for testing the quality of medicines and the safety of food and water.

This outstanding honor was acknowledged recently at a hosted event with local government, business and academic leaders at our Taunton facility in Myles Standish Industrial Park. The ceremonial presentation of the LEED certificate was given to Waters President & CEO Dr. Udit Batra from Elizabeth Beardsley of the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), followed by encouraging remarks from Senator Marc Pacheco, Massachusetts State Representative Jake Auchincloss and City of Taunton Mayor Shaunna O’Connell. Guided facility tours by Chris Benevides, Senior Director of the Taunton facility, and Tom Keiser, the Project Manager capped off the exciting event.

From l to r: Chris Ross, Waters SVP Global Operations; Chris Benevides, Waters Director of Manufacturing Operations; Elizabeth Beardsley, Senior Policy Counsel, U.S. Green Building Council; Congressman Jake Auchincloss (D-MA); Mass. State Senator Marc Pacheco (1st Plymouth & Bristol District); City of Taunton Mayor Shaunna O’Connell; Dr. Udit Batra, Waters CEO & President; Jim Brett, President & CEO The New England Council; Tom Keiser, Waters Taunton Project Expansion Lead.

Our Taunton facility has been designed to increase operational safety and reduce a wide range of environmental impacts. The building incorporates several design features that reduce energy consumption, hazardous waste, and water usage lending to a plant-wide reduction in emissions by a factor of three including:

• A waste treatment plant which will support an anticipated 50% reduction in hazardous waste and the ability to recover organic solvents for potential reuse in process and/or re-sale; 
• Wastewater recycling technology that reclaims and filters the gray water in property irrigation, climate control and the building’s restroom facilities;
• HVAC equipment is comprised of high efficiency units with motors that were designed to run at optimal speeds to reduce energy consumption and all the major exhaust streams go through a heat/cooling recovery process that pretreats the air coming into the facility;
• “Condensing style” boilers enable extracting heat from the flue gasses to heat the plant;
• During winter months, natural outdoor air will provide cooling for our production processes, known as “free cooling;”
• Facility lighting is on an automated control system to save electricity

Science Behind Our Materials Produced at Taunton

The products manufactured at this site are essential for the development and quality testing of vaccines and medicines and for the purity of food and water for millions of people across the globe. At Taunton, we manufacture chromatographic particles which are central to our chemistry consumables business. Thousands of analytical laboratories around the world use the synthesized chromatographic media to support the research, development and manufacture of pharmaceuticals, biopharmaceuticals, foods, and materials.

Business Growth in the Community

While Waters has been producing laboratory supplies and chemistry consumables since1976 in this location, our 140,000 square-foot facility is nearly triple the size of the building it replaces. Recently recognized by MassEcon, the state-wide non-profit alliance of private and public sector partners, with a Silver Massachusetts Economic Impact Award, our Taunton plant will provide 33% more jobs for the region with the capacity for growth for years to come. For our entire team, these achievements represent our ongoing commitment to innovation, sustainability, and are at the core of our efforts to leave the world better than we found it.

Additional Links / Resources: 

Press release

Blog post: Solving Problems for the Next Generation

Blog post: Validation of Our Sustainability Efforts

Blog post: Integrating Sustainability into Our Strategy, Operations and Products 

Blog post: Our Commitment to Sustainability and Enhancing Human Health and Well-Being

Learn more about our ESG approach in our 2022 Report