Why measure a carbon footprint?
In the pursuit of becoming carbon negative or neutral, reducing the carbon footprint of everyday laboratory tools has become crucial. One of the most effective ways of reducing your carbon footprint is utilising our paper-based bio-bins instead of plastic bags in boxes, plastic bins and plastic bags. Our 6L pipette bin is commonly used for the safe disposal of serological pipettes and pipette tips but what about the environmental impact of this essential lab accessory? In a world where it’s important to be able to showcase the sustainability elements of your products, you first need to be able to confidently show their carbon footprint. This blog delves into how we measured the carbon footprint of our 6L pipette bio-bin and how it can help you reach your lab emission reduction goals.
Breaking down the carbon footprint of our bio-bins
Manufacturing: Emissions result from the extraction of the paper and components from the bins. Luckily our bins come from FSC approved sources!
Transport: Emissions occur when the Bio-bin is transported from our manufacturing facility to our warehouse and end-users. We try and work with companies who either offset their emissions or use green energy where possible.
Disposal: Almost all of our bins are incinerated and so we based our calculations on our bins being disposed of in that way.
Factors Contributing to the Carbon Footprint
Several factors influence the carbon footprint of a 6L pipette bio-bin:
Material Choice: Paper. This emanates from a renewable resource – trees and has a much lower carbon footprint to produce and dispose of – not to mention all the other forever chemicals that don’t end up in the air when you burn it!
Production Processes: Energy-intensive processes during plastic production increase the carbon footprint. We aim to use energy-efficient machines and our warehouse and offices use energy which has come from renewable sources.
Distribution and Logistics: Transportation emissions from shipping the bio-bin to labs worldwide. Using shipping rather than air freight can greatly reduce your carbon footprint.
End-of-Life Management: Given that the bio-bins are mostly incinerated, this is what we based our calculations on.
What is the carbon footprint of our Bio-bin?
After all the measuring of the bins, the total carbon footprint cradle to grave for the 6L Pipette bio-bins is 0.19 KGCO2eq! So what does that mean if you compare that to alternatives?
If you compare our 6L Bio-bin to a typical plastic alternative, the carbon footprint of a plastic bin made 100% from virgin plastic is 2.12KgCO2[2]. That means if you swapped our 1 plastic bin for our paper-based bin, you could reduce your carbon emissions on just 1 bin by 91%!!
We’ve shown some examples of the kind of things which use up a similar amount of carbon to our bins compared to plastic in the graph and table below:
Sustainable lab practices
The future of sustainable laboratory practices looks promising with innovations in more sustainable materials and advanced technologies. As regulations become stricter, the push towards greener lab waste management solutions will only grow stronger. Laboratories and manufacturers must adapt by adopting more sustainable practices and staying ahead of these trends. If you want to make a simple, affordable and sustainable switch, swap your plastic bins for our paper-based bins in your labs.
