(FRANKFURT) - The German pharmaceutical and chemicals giant Bayer will invest one billion euros (1.46 billion dollars) over three years in environmental protection activities, it said Monday.

Acknowledging that its activities caused pollution, the maker of Aspirin said it would develop actions to protect the environment, audit its production processes and build structures that used less energy.

"We are aware that we are among those who emit greenhouse gases," a company statement quoted Bayer chief Werner Wenning as saying.

But Bayer said it had already cut such emissions by 36 percent between 1990 and 2006 and planned to reduce them further between 2005 and 2020.

The group's MaterialScience division in particular, which produces plastics, has a target of lowering emissions by 25 percent per tonne of product sold over the 15 year period, the statement said.

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