The environmental impact of laboratory research is being lessened by establishing eco-conscious testing conditions and cutting waste in laboratories through the use of novel lab procedures, efficient recycling systems, and sustainable material advancements.
Novelties in the Reuse of Materials
For laboratory waste materials that do not yet have a practical recycling alternative, researchers have developed solutions. Circular economic approaches that were never thought of in these circumstances are being promoted by these revolutions.
Mittens
Although vinyl, latex, and nitrile gloves are essential for safety, they are a constant fixture in the surrounding landfills. They might contain biohazards and do not biodegrade. Since it might be difficult to recycle items contaminated by medical waste, downcycling has become more popular among businesses.
A biotech company in San Diego worked with the RightCycle program to repurpose glove leftovers as furniture and trellises, sparing their lab from tossing out up to 200 gloves every day. This innovation dispels the myth that environmental commitment must interfere with lab operations, which is a major turnoff for many businesses.
Rubber gloves that were discarded and treated were found to be durable through research. Even components that are flexible and contribute to their protective structure, such as carboxylic acid and acrylonitrile, eventually deteriorate when exposed to specific pollutants. The findings proved that substances like alcohol and UV light are not as harmful to structural integrity as previously thought.
Gloves may be regenerated for up to 20 uses using different cleaning techniques, which addresses the PPE scarcity that mostly occurred following the COVID-19 epidemic. It is possible to implement successful glove recycling systems with expanded disinfection.
For the purpose of recycling garbage, a number of third-party companies provide shipping boxes to medical and higher education facilities. To make gloves more environmentally friendly, businesses including Kimberly-Clark RightCycle, Terracycle, and Medline use cutting-edge sanitization techniques. For instance, TerraCycle uses a processed rubberized powder to create gloves that can be used as floor tiles and playground surfaces.
Polymethyl Methacrylate with Polystyrene
The University of Alabama researchers made the decision to upcycle two of the most common polymers found in laboratory settings, polystyrene and polymethyl methacrylate, using membrane science. This always worries expressed by some over the excessive harshness of many current recycling processes.
The study looked at how water filtration membranes might be improved through upcycling. Using recycled plastics, they developed movable flat-sheet membranes that produced a less hydrophilic end product with more accurate pore size.
Progress in Recycling
Infrastructure for recycling is becoming more widely available and able to handle a wider range of materials and complicated products. Have scientists discovered any more effective, useful methods for disassembling discarded medical equipment?
Electronic Waste
Lab digitization represents a shift from manual to automated processes. One of the most prevalent issues across all businesses, including laboratories, is e-waste. With the increasing penetration of planned obsolescence in consumer and lab technology, equipment is likely to become obsolete more quickly.
Everything needs somewhere to go, including old laptops and PCs, catalytic converters, centrifuges, and out-of-date blood analyzers. Care is also required for their hazardous lithium batteries. A University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign research team devised a method to extract more metals from abandoned laboratory equipment.
Lab Plastics, Shredded
Lab garbage bins are filled with innumerable peripherals and single-use instruments. Blanket solutions are practically unattainable due to their variability in size, form, application, and plastic composition. For safety reasons, the majority are burned, and institutions don’t have specialized equipment to handle special lab equipment. If proper decontamination is carried out, recycling rather than burning lab plastic might reduce emissions by as much as 74%. Some companies are ready to take on lab plastics in the interest of a cleaner environment.
More than 200 labs on campus will now receive recycling services from GreenLabs thanks to a partnership spearheaded by MIT. Over the course of several years, the project has increased the weekly amount of pounds it collects annually. According to estimates from MIT’s Environment, Health, and Safety (EHS) Office, the partnership retrieved 280 pounds of plastic each week in 2022 as opposed to 170 in 2020.
By shredding the gathered waste, the initiative gets rid of the requirement for sophisticated recycling machinery to detect and classify items according to their components and shape. Manufacturers then use it to make molds for injection items, such as test tubes and syringes. By utilizing the waste byproduct as the basis, they want to do away with the requirement for additives.
The ease of use for the end user and the initiative’s setup have contributed to its success. On the other hand, the collection service area is expanded and streamlined via an online waste request platform. The plan provides an inside look at how digital tools simplify and promote contemporary green practices widely.
Advancements in Three-D Printing
One powerful way to utilize recyclable resources and create something new is with 3D printing. What kind of lab waste is fed into printers, and what might they create to make research more environmentally friendly?
Round Polymers
Imagine if Petri dishes had the ability to become energy harvesters. Researchers discovered that thin filament wires with remarkable triboelectric properties could potentially be produced by 3D printers. The cables displayed multiple uses, such as energy harvesting and powering workout counters, and reached a voltage capacity of 185 volts.
London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) students have found another use for 3D printers: recycling lab equipment. The school uses the machine to create new lab equipment, waste bins, and furniture while still reusing waste plastic in a manner similar to the previously discussed shredding procedures. The school is able to remove contaminants that it would have to produce by using outdated methods, such as incineration, thanks to the controlled atmosphere of the plastic recycling plant.
Compost Organic
Additionally, the LSHTM printer put together equipment to recycle food waste. A 3D-printed biodigester is used to process green waste, including the leftovers from the researchers’ dinner. The feedstock is converted into a slurry and methane.
A restaurant uses the renewable energy provided by methane. The invention will stimulate long-term research modeling to determine how interior air quality is gradually improved by reusing lab waste. The department’s community garden can benefit from using the bio-based slurry as fertilizer without the need of chemicals. Together, these will enable the facility to reach net zero emissions by 2030.
Even though the medical sector uses modern lab waste recycling technologies extensively, this shows how adaptable these innovations may be outside of the laboratory. With this printed equipment, the food and beverage industry would be able to reach greener goals by amplifying lab settings.
Concrete: Innovative studies have also shown that disposable gloves work well as an addition to 3D-printed concrete. Using recycled glove fibers also facilitates a more efficient printing process. Experiments demonstrated a 90% reduction in carbon dioxide emissions, an 80% increase in flexural strength, and a 100% increase in the buildability index.
Initiatives for Reducing Lab Waste
Research is necessary for many industries, yet trash must be produced in labs for data integrity and safety reasons. Achieving equilibrium between environmentally conscious mindsets and productive scientific settings is imminent. Improved recycling and upcycling ensures that biohazards and microplastic laboratory waste won’t cause habitat degradation that persists. The extended life cycles of many items, such as gloves and staff lunches, are a testament to humanity’s advancements in sustainability.
