The Hidden Roadblocks to Sustainable Labs and How to Overcome Them

If I was given £1 for every time I heard the word autoclaves when engaging with the Higher Education sector to support them on sustainable procurement, I would be a millionaire by now. 

When we think about sustainable laboratories functioning and their efficiency, water use and its ethical disposal play an important part. And this is true not just for colleges and universities but also for the medical profession and research organisations. The challenge lies in helping higher education departments and medical professionals examine their working practices to incorporate sustainability considerations. 

Laboratories use water for reliable and repeated experiments, sterilising equipment, as a solvent for chemicals, purification of substances and many more purposes. The controlled use, however, and disposal are not always taken care of. 

An equipment/machine that is used in laboratories in an autoclave. An autoclave is used to decontaminate certain biological waste and sterilise media, instruments and labware. Typical loads include laboratory glassware, other equipment and waste, surgical instruments, and medical waste. The use of autoclaves can be water and energy-intensive, and this is due to a number of reasons including: 

• Choosing the wrong size 

• Choosing the wrong type of autoclave for your purpose 

• Using them frequently, rather than consolidating loads  

Autoclaves and sterilisers are a necessity in the lab, but there are some smart ways of using them.  

You can learn more about the efficiency measures in this area from Department of Life Sciences at Imperial College London and the work to replace autoclaves at their institution. 

A significant tool/standard, as developed by UCL to improve the sustainability and efficiency of laboratories, is LEAF, the Laboratory Efficiency Assessment Framework. The LEAF framework contains actions which lab users can take to save: 

• plastics 

• water 

• energy 

• other resources. 

These are proven to be effective without detrimental impact on the quality or progress of the science. Participating organisations are given a bronze, silver or gold level award depending on how the actions are implemented. 

While the above solutions involve internal stakeholder engagement and considerations, there are also some sustainability-based criteria that you can embed within your procurement process for your supply chain. One of these is ACT. 

The My Green Lab® ACT ® Ecolabel was designed to address the need of both scientists and procurement specialists for clear, third-party verified information about the environmental impact of laboratory products. By emphasising Accountability, Consistency, and Transparency (ACT) around manufacturing, energy and water use, packaging, and end-of-life, ACT makes it easy to choose more sustainable products.  ACT-labelled products are independently audited by Verico and published by My Green Lab. 

The criteria for the ACT label, also known as the Environmental Impact Factor (EIF) criteria, were developed with input from industry experts and external stakeholders. Scientists, sustainability directors, procurement specialists, and manufacturers all provided valuable feedback on the EIF criteria, resulting in the most comprehensive product labelling program for life science products. 
 The ACT label process entails third-party verification of the sustainable impacts of a product, its operations, and its end of life. Completing this process is a significant achievement that offers a baseline and framework for continuous improvement for the manufacturing community

You can gain access to ACT database for laboratory consumables, equipment, chemicals and reagents here. 

In embedding these sustainability criteria in your procurement process, it is important to have early engagement with your existing supply chain to understand what credentials they already have, what is their capacity and capability to provide these ethical and sustainable solutions.   

Read here about how Imperial College have engaged their departments, procurement function and supply chain to ensure sustainable procurement becomes business as usual in their operations. 

To give you insights on best practice in sustainable procurement for laboratories, we invite you to our webinar on the 17^th July 2025, ‘Laboratories and ethical sourcing: best practice in sustainable procurement‘ and we invite you all to be there.  

By attending this virtual conference, you will:   

• Learn about the existing HE consortia frameworks for laboratories’ sub-categories 

• Understand the risks and opportunities for lab efficiencies 

• Hear from HE organisations on their implementation measures for lab efficiency and sustainability 

If you are a Higher Education organisation, research organisation and require support on strengthening your procurement process and contract management duties, please reach out to Lead Sustainable Procurement Consultant – Mellita D’silva