As groups across the healthcare sector look to make their work more sustainable, one of the toughest challenges involves life sciences. In the process of creating new drugs and other remedies, the industry has an outsized negative impact on the planet.
“It’s estimated the global pharmaceutical industry accounts for approximately 52 megatons of carbon dioxide equivalents annually — roughly 4.5 percent of total greenhouse gas emissions,” according to Rutgers University assistant professor Mary Bridgeman. The industry’s high carbon footprint comes from numerous factors, including “single-use, unrecycled plastics, designed and assembled in ways that make them almost impossible to recycle on the other side,” she added. “That could be improved.”
She’s right — it can be improved. This is a problem I have been digging into. Through my experience in the climate tech and plastic recycling industry, I’ve learned a great deal about how labs can become more sustainable. And with new disclosure requirements from the Securities and Exchange Commission coming up, action needs to be taken now.
Conduct an audit, set a goal
The first step is to figure out what happens to all the plastic that comes through the lab. This is more complicated than it sounds. Many people who work in labs put some plastic into their traditional single-stream recycling bins such as media bottles and pipette tip boxes, thinking it will be recycled. They don’t realize that single stream recycling haulers discard it in most states. These organizations largely stay away from plastic waste that looks like a lab product, out of an abundance of caution.
Many life sciences companies have specific sustainability budgets that confine their ability to enact changes beyond energy use. But leaders of these companies — especially large pharmaceutical brands — need to consider the strong feelings of their own staff members, who can’t stand seeing potentially recyclable material end up in landfills. Recycling is the easiest and most visible step they can take to not only improve lab sustainability, but also improve employee retention.
When one research university conducted an audit of its labs in 2019. It found that the vast majority (80%) of its clean plastic waste came in the form of empty pipette tip boxes and racks that hold tubes. The university began recycling these and more. In 2020, it collected 170 pounds of plastic waste per week from its labs; within three years, that was up to 280 pounds a week. Other labs should set similar goals.
Enact new standard operating procedures
They can also achieve these goals by creating new rules, known as standard operating procedures (SOPs), for daily work. For example, there are programs like the Freezer Challenge from My Green Labs, in which labs work to achieve best practices in cold storage. Corey Martin, CEO of Spotlight Solutions, guides labs through ways to change their fume hoods in order to reduce energy consumption.
New technologies are also making it possible for laboratories to change their procedures for experiments. For example, many are conducting microscale experiments in which tiny amounts of a substance can provide the necessary results. As Indiana University put it, microscale chemistry “greatly reduces the volume of waste produced.” These experiments can also be safer and less expensive.
Whenever possible, labs should choose products made with reusable components and containers that can be sterilized and reused. These little changes add up quickly, contributing to a culture of conservation.
Reducing plastic waste is not only necessary to help fight climate change, it’s also necessary to protect people’s health. “The toxic chemical additives and pollutants found in plastics threaten human health on a global scale,” says the Geneva Environment Network, a cooperative of more than 75 organizations. Plastics have endocrine disrupting effects, contributing to obesity and thyroid dysfunction.
Inside labs across the country and around the world, many workers are deeply committed to adopting these kinds of solutions. The more they learn about the amount of waste their lab produces and the new options available, the more empowered they’ll be to change operations without sacrificing the pace of life-saving scientific breakthroughs.
Editor’s Note: The author has no financial relationship with any of the companies / products mentioned.
Picture: DrAfter123, Getty Images
Sam White is CEO of GreenLabs Recycling. Based in the Boston area, GreenLabs works with labs to recycle pipette tip boxes and other plastics that are not accepted by typical recycling programs. It turns the plastic into new lab products including transfer bins made from 100% recycled waste. Sam previously co-founded Promethean Power, a thermal battery technology for farmers in India, and Greentown Labs, the largest North American incubator for climate-tech startups. He then created Nano-Ice, a wearable device to help people with serious heat issues cool off without air conditioning. A widely recognized thought leader in the fields of entrepreneurship and sustainable business, he has had columns published by Newsweek, Nasdaq, the Boston Business Journal and more.
This post appears through the MedCity Influencers program. Anyone can publish their perspective on business and innovation in healthcare on MedCity News through MedCity Influencers. Click here to find out how.
