Green and Circular purchasing of laboratory supplies

• Prior to ordering consumables, check if other labs have a surplus supply of the resource you need;  establishing a  “second hand resource database” is useful for this purpose;

• Consolidate the orders to reduce packaging;

• Give preference to supplies that can be stored at room temperature;

• Choose autoclavable glassware or plastic bottles, petri dishes, and tubes, rather than disposable consumables (see image below!);

• Give preference to items with reduced packaging (e.g., purchase centrifuge tubes packed in bags rather than tubes supplied with polystyrene foam racks);

• Prefer products made of recycled materials;

• Purchase products with reduced hazardous chemicals;

• Whenever possible, choose suppliers that have take-back programs for packaging;

• Whenever possible, ask for the product Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) analysis or, alternatively, the Carbon Footprint of Product (CFP) during the production, lifetime, and end-of-life life cycle stages of the product, and choose the item with the lowest carbon footprint; *

• Check the company/manufacturer reputation. Prefer items with a fair-trade certificate;

• When buying small equipment, choose the right size for your lab and select equipment with environmentally-conscious features;

• Check the databases of eco-friendly lab consumables (such as that of LABCONSCIOUS®) and that of ACT®-labelled lab products.

Choose autoclavable glassware or plastic bottles, petri dishes, and tubes, rather than disposable consumables