Brennan, P, Whitmarsh, L, Cullen-Unsworth, L, Gregory, C, Harbottle, M, and Wang, Y (2011-2012) Developing the sustainable laboratory - Waste. HEFCW - Welsh Crucible. £8,999 (Cardiff Funding: £8,999)
Research Summary
Imagine working for an organisation that sent no waste to landfill. Laboratories in Wales generate a huge amount of waste: our estimates suggest that a department of 50 people generates in excess of ten tonnes of waste each year. This is either incinerated or ends up as landfill. Whilst packaging is often recycled, the majority of items used in the lab are not.
We want to change this!
Our team of experts is drawn from disciplines as diverse as biology, psychology, engineering and business, who will work together to develop the sustainable laboratory. By investigating the supply of resources, their use and waste generation, we will identify areas of good and bad practice, and develop strategies to improve laboratory sustainability.
A successful Welsh Crucible application will support the development of our approach to the laboratory sustainability both generally, and specifically, as a pilot study focussed around laboratory gloves - a key laboratory consumable. Our strategy is to: 1) survey the life-cycle of laboratory gloves and identify ways to mitigate landfill waste, 2) investigate options for the production of gloves from renewable sources (e.g., plants), rather than oil-based (non-renewable) processes, 3) identify means of facilitating and promoting the recycling of gloves within laboratories, and 4) study mechanisms to introduce broader behavioural changes with respect to re-using items, and recycling and reducing waste.
The use of laboratory gloves, as an exemplar, makes this work relevant to diverse areas, including industry, academia and medicine. By identifying the challenges and opportunities for one type of laboratory waste we can develop our approach and identify novel solutions that can be extended to other consumables. This proof-of-concept study will demonstrate the validity of our approach and provide a platform for further funding applications.