How to run a more sustainable laboratory in 2025

There has been a huge amount said in recent years about the importance of sustainability, both in domestic households and the workplace. A scientific laboratory typically uses a lot of disposable plastics and can generate large amounts of waste and contaminated materials, making it harder to operate with environmental efficiencies as a top focus. Nevertheless, it is possible to make a range of effective changes that can help lower a carbon footprint, lessen reliance on fossil fuels and reduce the amount of waste materials that are expelled from the laboratory in the course of its regular work.

 

The phrase ‘reduce, reuse, recycle’ has become increasingly well-known, prompting households, companies, schools and organisations to think more carefully about how they use, repurpose and dispose of the resources available to them. Here are some ways in which these worthwhile aims can be introduced, or expanded in your laboratory.

 

• Conserve energy

A scientific laboratory generally uses a lot more energy than an office or shop, for example. There is a requirement for highly sensitive heating or cooling controls, specialist lighting, sophisticated electronics, powerful air filtering devices  and pressurised equipment to help run experiments, process samples and store and transport specimens correctly. However, there are also several ways in which energy can be conserved. Paying attention to turning lights off when not in use, only boiling the exact amount of water or liquid needed for a task and switching electronic equipment off when not in use can make significant energy savings over time. As can sharing equipment with other teams when appropriate, switching off computers at night and storing samples in refrigerators that run at one or two degrees warmer than previously, so long as this does not compromise any results.

 

• Clean equipment

Keeping refrigerator coils free from dust and grease and filters clean of debris and lint can help equipment run more efficiently and prolong their useful life for very little effort. Dirty or clogged filters and coils require more energy to run and will increase a laboratory’s carbon footprint for no reason. Likewise, cleaning door seals to refrigerators and freezers and keeping them defrosted and in good condition will keep the energy bills down. Shut fume hoods when not in use to help keep these cleaner too and more efficient. By getting into a cleaning routine for large pieces of equipment and smaller laboratory items, you will find that the relatively small efforts needed to stay on top of the housekeeping will reward you in terms of energy saved and efficiencies noted.

 

• Work on waste management

Getting rid of waste and obsolete equipment needs careful management in order not to add to contamination  or pollution outside your laboratory and to avoid causing problems within it around hygiene, cluttering up space while you wait to get rid of things and generating too much waste that is destined to linger for years in landfill. Instead, think about how to reuse or recycle as much as possible. Choose streamlined storage and transportation solutions and only purchase good quality supplies that will last a long time or, if intended to be disposable, will work as intended and then be suitable for recycling or repurposing elsewhere. Look for suppliers that don’t use too much surplus packaging and opt for glass and recyclable plastics wherever possible. Set up systems within the laboratory to collect clean used paper, glass, compostable items and metal for recycling, such as bins, trays or large containers that can be emptied on a regular basis and taken away for processing.

 

• Examine your processes

The easiest way to work more sustainably in your scientific laboratory is to incorporate processes that are workable, simple and easy to add to your existing routines. Work to establish an environmentally-friendly culture and support your teams in reducing, reusing and recycling as much as possible during the working day. Set manageable goals, lead by example and only work with suppliers who are equally committed to operating sustainably and providing good quality, long-lasting supplies and solutions. Setting up smaller goals to work towards will be more motivational than making sweeping changes all at once. Choose quality supplies, take care of them and think about your carbon footprint to help you take your next step on the important journey of sustainable working.