��ճԹ� laboratories become first in ��ճԹ� to receive gold LEAF accreditation

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��ճԹ� laboratories become first in ��ճԹ� to receive gold LEAF accreditation

��ճԹ� achieved gold certification in the Laboratory Efficiency Assessment Framework (LEAF) accreditation in March 2023.

28/03/2023

Nicola Atkinson, Leah Crosby and Angela Lamb, who led the ��ճԹ� initiative to achieve the gold LEAF accreditation. ��ճԹ� © ��ճԹ�.

On a global scale, laboratories are responsible for around two per cent of global plastic waste (Urbina et al., 2015) and use three to ten times more energy than a typical office. The Laboratory Efficiency Assessment Framework (LEAF) is an initiative developed by University College London (UCL) and is a standard awarded to laboratories that can successfully demonstrate practical steps towards improved efficiency and sustainability.

��ճԹ� is committed to reducing its impact on the environment and this involves participation across the whole organisation. We identified LEAF as a driving tool to be able to do this within our laboratories; making them more sustainable is a commitment within the overarching ��ճԹ� Environmental Sustainability Strategy, which identified the labs as an energy-intensive area. It has allowed us to drive behavioural change and provide awareness to continue to reduce our environmental impacts.

Leah Crosby, ��ճԹ� Environmental and Sustainability Advisor.

The LEAF accreditation

— bronze, silver and gold — all of which contain actions that laboratory users can take to improve sustainability, such as reducing waste and energy use, recycling more and improving laboratory practices so laboratories can operate in an increasingly sustainable way.

LEAF logo courtesy of University College London.

LEAF at ��ճԹ�

Bronze accreditation, which ��ճԹ� achieved in 2021, involves raising awareness of the actions people can take, for example switching off laboratory equipment when it is not in use. The silver award, which ��ճԹ� received in 2022, is awarded for advancing procedures and policies and following best practice in laboratory sustainability. The new gold award, which ��ճԹ� is the first in ��ճԹ� to receive, has been given following implementation of the LEAF principles across thirteen laboratory groups from our Keyworth and Wallingford sites.

The gold accreditation included embedding sustainability in all aspects of our laboratories and expanding the LEAF principles across the office spaces shared by the labs. Gold LEAF accreditation has enabled us to promote a wider sustainability culture in ��ճԹ� and a vehicle to share good practise across our laboratories and with our stakeholders.

Angela Lamb, ��ճԹ� Stable Isotope Research Scientist.

Following the framework’s principles ensures that these practices, such as structural changes in our data storage and laboratory management systems, will continue to be effective in the long term.

A white man wearing white PPE, glasses and purple nitrile gloves uses a long pipette to transfer liquid into a small bottle

Instead of throwing away single-use nitrile gloves — one lab group alone used over 15 000 in one year — we now recycle them. We also employ ‘greener’ practices around solvent use, such as accelerated solvent extraction in the organic geochemistry lab to reduce the amount of solvents we use.

Nicola Atkinson, ��ճԹ� Isotope Support Scientist.

Acknowledgement

Laboratory staff collaborated and worked with other areas in ��ճԹ�, including the estates and facilities team, ��ճԹ� Informatics and the workshops, to achieve the gold accreditation and embed sustainability in all ways of working within our labs.