1. Neuroimmunology-Munich
  2. Sustainability
  3. Waste

Waste

Labs produce hazardous waste which has to be collected separately for safe disposal. However, special waste disposal is costly and has a high energy expenditure. Therefore make sure to strictly separate non-hazardous from hazardous waste.

Non-hazardous waste can be recycled if separated properly. This is more resource- and energy-efficient than incineration.


What can we do?

  • At benches where hazardous and non-hazardous waste is generated, have two different bins at hand.

  • Residual waste (which will be incinerated) is only for non-recyclable materials. The following should be collected separately: Paper and cardboard, packaging plastics, PET bottles, uncontaminated PP and PS plastic, styrofoam, glass, metal, organic waste.

  • Clear labelling of bins and regular briefings (e.g. as part of the yearly safety briefing) help lab members to follow rules correctly.

  • Don’t forget to also set up waste separation in the office kitchen!

Plastic is made from mineral oil. Its production is energy intensive, yet most plastic products are intended for a single use. A wet-lab researcher produces 1000 kg of plastic waste per year (5x more than at home).

In Germany, around half of the plastic waste is burned for energy production. The other half is recycled, which mostly means down cycling it to low quality products. The reason for this is, that different types of plastics have very different properties, but are usually collected together. To enable closed-loop-recycling (e.g. PET bottles to PET bottles), plastics would need to be sorted into single resins.

Even though recycling is the preferred end-of-life option for plastic, it is still energy- and cost-intensive. The best option for plastic is to not use it in the first place.


What can we do?

  • Prioritise prevention, minimisation and reuse of plastic over recycling and responsible sourcing.

  • Replace single-use plastic with glass or reusable plastic products (e.g. glass serological pipettes, washable centrifugation containers).

  • Right-size plastic products (e.g. 5 ml Eppis instead of 15 ml falcons when possible).

  • Use biobased plastic products made from waste materials such as cooking oil.

  • Reuse plastic products (e.g. serological pipette left in bottle, optimised pipetting schemes).

  • Sort and recycle non-contaminated plastics. At INIM, we collect PET, polypropylene (PP) and polystyrol (PS) for recycling. You can identify the plastic resin type by the number in the sign.


References:

Did you ever wonder, why you collect plastic bottles at home and return them to the supermarket but trash your empty bottles in the lab? Both are made from the same material, PET, which can be recycled to make new bottles.

Recycling reduces the amount of new plastic that needs to be produced and thereby saves resources and energy. Recycling is most efficient when plastics are collected by single resin, i.e. PET separately from other plastic types.


What can we do?

  • We joined the “Cell culture for future” PET recycling programme by PAN-Biotech. They take back bottles from any supplier, not just their own, and make new PET from it.

  • Rinse empty PET bottles and put them in the PET collection bins. (Lids are also from PET but should be unscrewed for recycling.)


References:

To enable closed-loop-recycling (i.e. making high quality plastic products from recyclates instead of  downcycling or burning plastic waste), plastic resin types need to be collected separately. Each plastic product carries a symbol (number in a triangle of arrows) to identify the resin type. Closed-loop-recycling limits waste disposal while saving resources and energy.


What can we do?

  • Analyse your plastic waste streams: In which procedures do you use plastic without chemically or biologically contaminating it? Which plastic resins do you use?

  • Polypropylene (PP) are usually pipette tips (+ boxes), and tubes
    Polystyrol (PS) are usually well plates, petri dishes, serological pipettes and reagent reservoirs
    Exceptions exist (e.g. falcons can be PP or PS), so always check the number in the triangle.

  • At the BMC Martinsried, we have  partnered with university waste management to collect PP and PS and forward it to specialised recyclers (PP: closed-loop-recycling, PS: currently recycled with other clean plastics).

  • If you are at BMC: The infrastructure is there, just start collecting!

  • If you are outside BMC: Contact waste management to set up your closed-loop-recycling infrastructure.


References:

More energy and CO2 emission is required to produce and discard of single-use plastic pipette than to produce, wash and re-use glass serological pipettes.


What can we do?

  • Evaluate whether you can switch from plastic to glass serological pipettes.

  • If you already use autoclaved glass/plasticware for the solution, autoclaved glass pipettes are suitable for it too.

  • Workflow at INIM:

    1. Get a case of autoclaved glass pipettes and a collection bin with basket from the scullery.

    2. Fill the collection bin with VE water + a splash of soap

    3. After use, collect your used pipettes (without cotton) gently in the collection bin and bring it to the scullery within 1 week.

    4. Collect your pipettes in a ‚common bin‘ in the scullery and keep your collection bin.

    5. Discard the ‚used VE water with soap‘ in the sink.

    6. Tip: label your bin with the date you added your first dirty pipette so you don‘t forget it!


References: