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Across its U.S. footprint, contract research, development, and manufacturing organization WuXi Biologics is getting employees out of the office this week and into the fresh air in honor of Earth Day.

To recognize the annual event, WuXi, which occupies more than 154,000-square-feet of laboratory and manufacturing space in Cranbury, introduced the WuXi Biologics Earth Week program April 17. Throughout the work week ending April 21, the company’s more than 350 employees in the states will be able to take part in volunteer hours, focusing on nature, during business hours.

In New Jersey, where there are 170 employees, 51 have already signed up to participate – with more joining each day, a company representative told NJBIZ.

In 2023, WuXi Biologics’ Garden State group is again partnering with Friends of Princeton Open Spaces at the Billy Johnson Mountain Lakes Nature Preserve in Princeton, where they will remove invasive species, plant native species and install protective deer-exclusion caging. The group volunteer day will take place Friday with 30 participants currently committed; the remaining 21 that have also signed up to participate in the Earth Week event will take part in individual activities, like picking up litter or planting trees in the communities they live in, according to WuXi Biologics.

At its additional U.S. locations in Massachusetts and Pennsylvania, the company says it will partner with the City of Worcester and Jenkins Arboretum & Gardens in Devon, Pa., respectively.

To better track the impact WuXi Biologics and its employees have through the Earth Week program – and to find areas in which to make an even bigger impact – participants will be asked to submit information including the number of hours volunteered, the number of bags of trash collected or the number of trees planted, for instance.

While this is the first year that WuXi Biologics Earth Week has run as a company-sponsored event across U.S. locations, when the New Jersey team headed to Billy Johnson Nature Preserve for a company volunteer day in 2022, they planted more than 75 native trees and shrubs, the company representative said.

“WuXi Biologics Earth Week is an important reminder of the impact we have on our planet and the responsibility we have to protect it. We’re proud to offer this volunteer program as a way for our employees to make a difference in their communities,” Senior Vice President and Head of Global Manufacturing William Aitchison said in a statement. “Our commitment to the environment doesn’t end with Earth Day. WuXi Biologics will continue to prioritize sustainability in all aspects of our business.”

In addition to the new Earth Week initiative, WuXi Biologics offers additional volunteer opportunities throughout the year to its employees, including working with food banks, hosting food drives and participating in other park or beach cleanups.

“Offering four paid hours for employees to participate in this initiative really shows commitment by WuXi Biologics to make a difference,” said Olivia Salazar, a quality control scientist at the Cranbury site. “I am looking forward to planting native trees provided by the county in my backyard and picking up litter in my neighborhood.”

Another employee also expressed enthusiasm when signing up to participate, saying, “Our town does a cleanup day and my family and I will participate in this event! Thank you for allowing us the opportunity to take time and do something valuable for our environment and community!”

The Chinese company highlighted efforts of its staff volunteerism in its 2021 Environmental, Social and Governance Report, the most-recent available. According to the 12-month ESG wrap-up, WuXi organized 22 activities in 2021, bringing together 798 volunteers from nine cities in China, the U.S., Ireland and Germany who contributed a total of 3,192 hours serving areas of public health, environmental protection and youth education.