Edinburgh Napier University

When lab technician Lisa McMillan and technical assistant Jo Brown grew concerned at the volume of single-use lab plastics and the lack of in-lab recycling facilities, they took it upon themselves to pioneer a new recycling initiative that has to date (December 2022) re-routed 3,000kg of plastic from general waste to dry mixed recycling.

Recycling lab plastics has historically been viewed as too challenging due to contamination issues, but Lisa and Jo were determined to find a solution that would allow them to recycle almost all plastic items. They felt strongly that the volume of waste involved and resulting environmental impact warranted an investigation into a more sustainable method.

In late 2018, they began to consult widely both in and out of the lab and worked to develop, standardise and disseminate decontamination and waste handling protocols. They've also recycled steel drums to be used as planters to improve biodiversity at Sighthill campus.

The project was initially rolled out in the biomedical science and microbiology teaching and research areas, as these labs were generating the most single-use plastic waste. Steps taken included:

• Agreeing decontamination protocol and standardising across labs
• Developing in-lab signage and disseminating information and requirements to staff and students
• Addressing necessary changes to waste uplift arrangements and signage for external dumpsters
• Expanding to include non-contaminated ‘standard’ recycling within all School of Applied Sciences labs
• Establishing protocols to allow easy differentiation of standard and contaminated waste to ensure appropriate handling

Looking forward

Sharing their experiences with others has become a key aspect to Lisa and Jo’s work. In January 2020 they presented at a technicians’ conference at Queens University Belfast, where they received an overwhelming response from other technicians keen to begin sustainability efforts themselves, and with whom they continue share best practice and assist.

Lisa and Jo have also joined an APUC-led Climate Emergency Procurement Working Group, contributing a number of case studies and best practice examples to inform framework agreements and help people with lab purchasing decisions can make ethically-informed choices. They have also signed up to the Laboratory Efficiency Assessment Framework (LEAF) initiative.

In May 2021, Edinburgh Napier joined a pilot project with LEAF, the National Technician Development Centre (NTDC) and Liverpool, Manchester Metropolitan, Newcastle and Reading Universities to work together to improve sustainability in technical areas. An intended outcome of the project is to better understand the skillsets technical staff require to improve the sustainability of their operations, and how they can be better supported.

By taking the initiative and making the changes they wanted to see, Lisa and Jo have made a visible, quantifiable and positive impact almost immediately. As their work continues to expand, with colleagues and students alike, we are excited to see more positive changes take place within the University to reduce our environmental impact.

Get in touch

If you're interested in learning more about the project, please visit the Lab Plastics Recycling Blog or contact l.mcmillan@napier.ac.uk or j.brown5@napier.ac.uk