Sustainable Labs

By acknowledging the impact of our research, identifying opportunities and mitigating negative aspects on a local level, we can improve the sustainability of our operations. Here are some ways in which you can help with this:

• Join our sustainable labs accreditation programme ‘LEAF’
• Be aware of all operational procedures relevant to your activities
• Consider sustainability opportunities and impacts in your grant applications
• Add any environmental impacts to your risk assessment and demonstrate how you will manage and mitigate them; risks may include waste, emissions to air, discharge to drain, use of resources, energy use and travel
• Include mitigation in your resulting Safe Operating Procedures (SOPs), from switching off equipment to utilising the correct waste streams
• Think about what positive sustainability opportunities there are that you could utilise
• Share good practice to help others reduce their negative impacts and increase their positive impacts
• Join your local Safety & Sustainability Network to share ideas across the University

Contact your local Environment Officer for further information or to discuss any initiatives e.g. lab recycling schemes, to ensure they meet university requirements.

You and your lab colleagues can join a training session with a difference, learn about simple changes that can have a big impact on how environmentally aware your operations and space can be. You can request a training session for your lab or join a scheduled one!

LEAF is open to all labs on campus to help reduce the environmental impact. Labs that join LEAF can also access our ‘Sustainable Labs Grants’ that are available to support labs in becoming more innovative and sustainable.

Cold Storage - How can I reduce the impact of the equipment I have in the lab?

Cold storage is essential in a lot of our laboratories and can use a lot of energy. However, there are some simple things we can do to be more efficient and reduce our impact on the environment.  

Before you buy:

• Understand what temperatures you need for your work, could you use a –40°C instead of a –80°C?
• Check out the energy efficiency rating of the products to reduce lifetime costs
• Understand any regular maintenance required and how this will be undertaken

During operation:

• Regular checks of ice build-up, filters, ambient operating temperature and local procedures of how to respond/manage these
• Samples have been proven to be stored safely at –70°C instead of –80°C, this saves approximately £300 a year per ULT freezer in electricity.
• Label samples so storage space can be cleared as people leave the University.
• Defrost periodically to ensure cold storage runs efficiently.
• Use alarm systems to prevent samples being lost when there is a breakdown.

When disposing:

• Dispose of Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment in accordance with the Waste Management Guidance Note (WMGN17 - WEEE).

For more information contact your local Environment Officer.

General Equipment - How can I reduce the impact of the equipment I have in the lab?

We have a lot of equipment in our laboratories across the University, with estimations that laboratories use five times more energy than conventional office space. Below are some ideas of how we can reduce energy use and our environmental impact:

• Ensure your equipment is suitably maintained, calibrated (if applicable) and serviced as this can extend its working life and ensure better quality of results for you in the lab.
• Run incubators, drying cabinets and autoclaves when full (where feasible) to reduce energy use.
• Switch off your equipment when not in use, but especially over weekends and holidays.
• Switch off lights in your lab when you are the last to leave.
• Make equipment bookable to allow sharing across spaces and have set operating hours allowing the equipment to be switched off outside of these.
• Set-up a ‘last one out’ checklist, where the last person checks key items are off or in power down mode before leaving the lab. Switch-off stickers can help inform what can be turned off.
• Check the temperature of equipment, is it appropriate? Could you increase cold storage and decrease drying cabinets temperatures? Have a conversation with your lab colleagues to understand any barriers to change.

For more information contact your local Environment Officer.

Fume Hoods - How can I reduce the impact of the equipment I have in the lab?

Fume hoods are used across the University to help us work safely. This equipment can use a lot of energy when we use it improperly. However, there are some simple things we can do to be more efficient:

• Shut the sash when you are not using the fume hood.
• If using a variable rate reduce the throughout to 0.35, where it is safe to do so.
• Do not use the fume hood as storage; this affects the flow and uses more energy.
• Switch off air flow and lights when not in use, where safe to do so.
• Use a booking system to manage use of the equipment.
• Ensure the work you are doing requires a fume hood, or whether you could work somewhere else.
• Turn taps off in fume hoods, if it is leaking report to your local lab technician or technical team.
• Report any problems with fume hoods to lab technicians or local technical team.

For more information contact your local Environment Officer.

How can I improve communications and wellbeing in the lab?

It is really important to share information with your lab colleagues, as well as the rest of your Faculty. It helps with implementation of new procedures and sharing best practice across the University. Engaging regularly with your colleagues can also help with wellbeing.

Below are some ideas of how you can increase communications in your space:

• Join your Faculty’s ‘Safety and Sustainability Network’.
• Get involved with the Laboratory Efficiency Assessment Framework (LEAF), our great sustainable labs accreditation programme.
• Include ‘Sustainable Labs’ as an agenda item on your local lab meetings and lab induction.
• Join our training and feel more confident in your space.
• Schedule breaks and social activities with your colleagues.
• Get involved with Sustainability’s activities including SWell.

For more information contact your local Environment Officer.

How can I reduce my single-use plastic in the laboratory?

We use single-use laboratory plastics all the time, with some estimates that they could be responsible for 5.5 million tonnes of waste annually (The Guardian, 2019). They can also be essential for safety and research integrity, however, it is important to consider why we are using them and whether there is an alternative.

• Understand what you use and the volume across projects.
• Understand why you use single-use plastics and whether there is an opportunity for reuse e.g. is it to save time? H&S requirements? Research integrity?
• Can you reduce the volume of plastics you use? Could you use a smaller volume tube or buy a smaller pack? Can you share boxes with your colleagues so everything gets used?
• Check which plastics you buy and whether you can recycle them after use.
• Can you decontaminate and re-use consumables without impacting your results?
• Be aware of decontamination processes and requirements for recycling single-use plastics from labs, for more information check out the ‘Disinfection Guidance Sheet’ from the H&S Team.
• Check what other labs are doing and see if you can join their reuse or recycling projects e.g. tip box return schemes, get in contact with your local Safety and Sustainability Network to find out more

 For more information contact your local Environment Officer.

Does my purchasing have an impact on how sustainable my lab is?

Yes! We consume a lot in the labs, this can be anything from complex analytical equipment to gloves and chemicals. Everything we buy has an impact through raw materials, manufacturing, transport, use and disposal. If we can think about this when we work we can reduce our impacts.

• Check out our ‘Top Tips for Laboratory Purchasing’ available on our website.
• Consider if you can reuse any materials or equipment in the lab, this may include Winchesters to store chemical waste, tip boxes or rinsing out consumables and reusing (where safe).
• Consider the size you require, something too big will consume more power and be less efficient e.g. 100 mL container instead of 500 mL container.
• Consider if you could use second hand equipment, there are lots of suppliers available
• If you no longer use the equipment you could sell it, following the process in the ‘Specialist Equipment Removal and Sales’ procedure.
• Reduce the volume of single use plastics, assess how much you use and where it is safe to reduce. Do this as a working group and get everyone in the lab involved so they are happy with revised methods. Check out our ‘Single use plastics’ info sheet for more information.

Want to find out more? Check out our Positive Procurement webpage, or email us.

How does research integrity impact sustainability in the lab?

Research integrity has an impact on sustainability through ensuring quality results and reducing the likelihood of repeat tests if data is insufficient. If you need to repeat an experiment because of pipettes or balances not being accurate you are using twice the materials.

Some simple things you can do to increase your research integrity within the sustainable labs program includes:

• Have a forum for sharing and discussing negative results, and implementing methods to reduce the number of problems raised related to methods, protocols or equipment.
• Calibration of pipettes and other measuring/analytical equipment to ensure accuracy.
• Sharing common protocols and methods to ensure better comparability between results.
• Use of core facilities and following SOPs to reduce doubling up on equipment and increasing energy consumption.
• Verification of sterilisation and cleanliness methods to increase accuracy of your results.
• Utilising laboratory management software.

 For more information contact your local Environment Officer. 

How can I manage my chemicals and samples more efficiently in the lab?

The way we manage sample and chemical storage in the laboratory can have a huge impact on the efficiency of the space. It can also affect our environmental impact through increased use of consumables and hazardous materials, and greater waste generation.

Some simple things you can do to increase your sample and chemical efficiency include:

• Ensure all chemicals and samples are labelled with the owner, name, date and hazard (if applicable).
• Ensure chemicals, samples and materials in the space are being actively used.
• Share chemicals and materials, where possible, to reduce the number of purchases and potential waste.
• Use the 12 principles of Green Chemistry to reduce the impact your work has on the environment e.g. substitution for less hazardous materials.
• Ask your supplier what less harmful alternatives they can recommend.
• Include sample and chemical management on the lab induction.
• Have an inventory for your group/lab.

For more information contact your local Environment Officer. 

Does my travel for work have an environmental impact?

Travel can be an important way of communicating our research and sharing our findings with the rest of the world. However, travel contributes to our Scope 3 emissions and costs the University more than £5 million a year. Below are some ways we can actively  reduce our travel related impacts:

• Check out the Business Travel procedure and see if you can utilise our travel hierarchy.
• Consider whether you could undertake the same work using video conferencing or Zoom.
• See if you can combine your work with another aspect e.g. conducting fieldwork and also visiting higher education fairs, speaking to prospective students in that area or attending a meeting on behalf of your department.
• Reduce the number of people going to a single event.
• Book through our travel providers so we can capture the way we travel.
• Getting a taxi? Ask the company if they have low emissions vehicles available
• How do you get to/from work? Could you cycle, walk or use the bus.

Want to find out more? Check out our Travel web pages. 

How can I increase my recycling and manage my waste efficiently in the lab?

We have more than 40 waste and recycling streams at the University. To manage them efficiently you need to identify what your main waste sources are and understand whether if it is safe to reuse or recycle. Even in labs we can increase our levels of recycling and reuse. Below are some ideas on how you can achieve this:

• Contact your local Environment Officer for a review of the wastes in your lab and see if you can divert more to recycling.
• Include waste and recycling on your lab induction so all lab users are familiar with the process.
• Do not dispose of contaminated items to recycling unless you have decontaminated them appropriately, guidance is available from Estates-Waste@swansea.ac.uk 
• Empty cardboard and plastic boxes and move outside the lab as soon as possible so they don’t get contaminated.
• Check out the waste management guidance notes on the website.
• Purchase materials that can be recycled e.g. HDPE, PP, PET, PS.
• Use our new tip box and polystyrene recycling streams.
• Speak to suppliers about take back schemes they offer.
• Sell lab equipment you no longer require instead of throwing it away.

What can I do about water use? What wastewater is allowed down the drain?

The University’s water bill costs are over half a million pounds per year and has a significant environmental impact due to the wastewater generated that subsequently will need to be cleaned by Welsh Water to go back into our rivers and oceans. Whether your lab processes use small or large amounts of water, reducing the usage will help to mitigate this impact.

Some simple things you can do to reduce your water use and wastewater generated include:

• Be aware of what you are disposing to drain, hazardous chemicals should not be disposed to drain, please follow the Chemical Waste Store User Procedure
• Certain disposals of substances to drain may be possible but this must be agreed with your Environment Officer who will contact Welsh Water.
• When purchasing equipment or designing an experiment, consider the water use and try to keep it to a minimum e.g. smaller tank sizes, recirculating water systems.
• Do not dispose of liquids to external drains.
• Report dripping/leaking taps by raising an Estates work request.
• Avoid running taps to soak your glassware.
• Contact Sustainability if you will be disposing more than 1m³ to drain on a single day.

For more information contact your local Environment Officer.

Note: H&S requirements must still be met e.g. system flushing to reduce legionella risk.