Sustainable laboratories: Reducing plastics

Chemistry has a plastic waste problem. In 2015, the University of Exeter estimated that global bioscience research produces 5.5 million tonnes of plastic waste annually, and while the exact figure for chemistry is unknown, it’s likely to be similarly damning. Unfortunately for chemists, the essential lab plastics are typically challenging to either recycle or reuse: the possibility of exposure to harmful chemicals from used gloves, pipette tips and syringes make commercial recyclers unwilling to accept these products, while concerns around sample contamination prevent most lab users from reusing cleaned items.