Roche Diagnostics Corporation Receives 2005 Governor’s Award for Environmental Excellence
Company increased its volume of recyclables by 71 percent compared to 2003, raising the recycling rate from 23 percent to 43 percent during 2004

Today, Roche Diagnostics received the 2005 Governor’s Award for Environmental Excellence at the Indiana Association of Solid Waste Management Districts 13th Annual Conference.

Roche Diagnostics received the award for its recycling/reuse efforts. The company increased its recycling rate from 23 percent to 43 percent during 2004, contributing to an estimated cost savings of $383,000 and resulting in approximately 250,000 square feet of waste diverted from landfills. Most of the enhancements were made to the cardboard recycling program, increasing collection volume by 11 percent. A newly-created plastics recycling program yielded 105 tons of recycling plastic in the first year and continues to grow, as 41 tons of plastic were collected during the first quarter of 2005 compared to 27 tons during the same period in 2004.

In addition to some of the recycling improvements, several reuse programs have been created. Approximately 15,000 wood pallets were reused for international shipping and approximately $136,000 was saved by the reuse of packaging materials, such as freezer bricks, cardboard layer pads, and corner protectors.

“It is truly an honor to receive the Governor’s Award for Environmental Excellence. The success of our recycling program is directly attributable to the hard work of our Safety and Environmental teams, their co-workers, and the employees in all operations who have worked so hard to make the necessary process changes to manage the materials. This has been a group effort supported by the management in all areas at our Indianapolis campus and it is nice to receive recognition for that hard work,” said Jeff Roberts, Senior Environmental Consultant at Roche Diagnostics. He added, “This recycling/reuse effort contributes to our global environmental sustainability concept which commits to growing and maintaining a profitable business, while at the same time being socially responsible, protecting employees and neighbors, and minimizing to the maximum extent possible the impact of our operations to the environment.”

Thomas W. Easterly, commissioner of the Indiana Department of Environmental Management, said, “These awards recognize significant time, effort and know-how on the part of the recipients. They each have risen far above regulated obligations to a level of excellence. These recipients are the high mark of what every Indiana business and citizen should strive for. They have made proactive decisions that positively affect the environment to make our state a better place. We are very proud to see Governor Daniels recognize them. Everyone should try to raise the bar of their efforts to prevent pollution.”

In other environmental commitments, Roche Diagnostics announced in August its investment in a $51 million Central Chiller Plant to provide comfort cooling, process cooling, and refrigeration needs for the entire 18-building campus by December 2009. The Central Chiller Plant will replace the existing halogenated hydrocarbon-based systems, which can contribute to ozone depletion and global warming. This is part of The Roche Group, Roche Diagnostics’ Swiss parent company, directive to set a timeline for eliminating the use of essentially all halogenated hydrocarbons at Roche sites worldwide by 2015. The phase out of some of these halogenated hydrocarbons is not required by U.S. laws or regulations.

About Roche and the Roche Diagnostics Division
Headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, Roche is one of the world’s leading research-intensive healthcare groups. Its core businesses are pharmaceuticals and diagnostics. As a supplier of innovative products and services for the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of disease, the Group contributes on a broad range of fronts to improving people’s health and quality of life. Roche is a world leader in Diagnostics, the leading supplier of medicines for cancer and transplantation and a market leader in virology. In 2004, the Pharmaceuticals Division generated 21.7 billion Swiss francs in prescription drug sales, while the Diagnostics Division posted sales of 7.8 billion Swiss francs. Roche employs roughly 65,000 people in 150 countries and has R&D agreements and strategic alliances with numerous partners, including majority ownership interests in Genentech and Chugai. Roche’s Diagnostics Division, with a uniquely broad product portfolio, supplies a wide array of innovative testing products and services to researchers, physicians, patients, hospitals and laboratories world-wide.

Roche Diagnostics’ North American headquarters is located in Indianapolis, Ind. (www.roche-diagnostics.us). For further information, please visit our websites www.roche.us and www.roche-diagnostics.com.

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