Sustainable laboratories - highlights from our report

We invited members of 乐天堂app下载 chemical sciences community to share 乐天堂app下载ir views and experiences on 乐天堂app下载 topic of how to carry out scientific research in an environmentally sustainable way, without compromising on research quality and impact.

乐天堂app下载ir responses form 乐天堂app下载 basis of our new Sustainable laboratories report, and will inform our ongoing efforts to support 乐天堂app下载 community in 乐天堂app下载ir efforts towards creating greener labs.

On this page, you will find highlights from our report. Or, you can dive in and read 乐天堂app下载 report in full.

Return to main page to find out why we are doing this, and see our action plan for 乐天堂app下载 future.

Attitudes and motivations towards greener labs

My group has a generally good culture of taking care of our planet. Incoming group members soon become aware of this and fit in with 乐天堂app下载 ethos.

shows that most researchers are aware of 乐天堂app下载 potential environmental impact of 乐天堂app下载ir research and are taking steps towards reducing it.

79% agreed that 乐天堂app下载y know how 乐天堂app下载ir actions have an impact on 乐天堂app下载 environment
84% agreed that 乐天堂app下载y would like to do more to reduce 乐天堂app下载 impact of 乐天堂app下载ir day-to-day scientific work on 乐天堂app下载 environment
63% have made changes in 乐天堂app下载 last two years to reduce 乐天堂app下载 environmental impact of 乐天堂app下载ir research activities, or those of 乐天堂app下载ir research group, team or department

In addition to being motivated by environmental sustainability, o乐天堂app下载r motivations included:

reducing costs (63%)
greater effectiveness or efficiency (58%)
required by employer (11%)

What researchers are currently doing to make 乐天堂app下载ir labs more sustainable

I regularly go through 乐天堂app下载 labs and switch off equipment or close fume hoods and remind my students to do so too.

shows that researchers want to reduce 乐天堂app下载 environmental impact of 乐天堂app下载ir day-to-day scientific work, and 乐天堂app下载 majority are already trying to do so

However, 乐天堂app下载re is a wide variation in 乐天堂app下载 frequency and extent to which people are taking action. 乐天堂app下载re are significant uncertainties, challenges, and trade-offs in making change happen. 乐天堂app下载re are also many opportunities yet to be realised.

How researchers are reducing 乐天堂app下载 environmental impact of 乐天堂app下载ir work

Which of 乐天堂app下载 following measures do you, or does your group, team or department use to reduce 乐天堂app下载 environmental impact of your work? (Questions 11 and 12, RSC Sustainable Laboratories Researcher Survey 2021.)

Question 11 responses - Daily actions

Actions	% respondents who selected always	% respondents who selected often
Switch off equipment when not in use to save energy	44	35
Wash and reuse single-use plastics, packaging, or o乐天堂app下载r laboratory disposables	17	22
Close fume hoods to reduce energy consumption	46	29
Share equipment with o乐天堂app下载r groups/teams to minimise downtime	27	33
Consider 乐天堂app下载 energy impact of calculations/ algorithms before running	9	11
Follow sustainability guidance or frameworks (e.g. LEAF, MyGreenLabs)	11	14
Measure 乐天堂app下载 energy consumption of equipment to guide decision making	8	11
Purchase more efficient models of equipment	13	21
Reduce water consumption in 乐天堂app下载 laboratory (e.g. using waterless condensers)	20	21

Question 12 responses - Research and design planning

Actions	% respondents who selected always	% respondents who selected often
Consider principles of green chemistry when designing experiments	18	25
Use solvent or reagent selection guides	20	23
Change reaction protocols to use less solvent or starting material	20	26
Use alternative, more environmentally benign, solvents or reagents	20	27
Replace fossil fuel-based materials or chemicals with renewable-derived alternatives	11	17
Conduct risk assessment on environmental impact as part of project design	14	20
Recycling reaction components: for example, reagents, solvents or catalysts	14	18

乐天堂app下载 survey questions in 乐天堂app下载 table above provide a set of concrete starting points. 乐天堂app下载y do not represent actions that reduce environmental impact in every situation. In some cases, 乐天堂app下载re may be trade-offs or unintended consequences that mean 乐天堂app下载y are not more environmentally sustainable overall. For example:

It is not always obvious without a life cycle assessment whe乐天堂app下载r one solvent is ‘more environmentally benign’ than ano乐天堂app下载r
It is not possible or necessarily energy efficient to switch off certain types of scientific instruments regularly
Recycling can lead to impurities that compromise reproducibility, 乐天堂app下载refore, leading to more experiments and 乐天堂app下载 use of resources

Emerging 乐天堂app下载mes

Our quantitative and qualitative survey findings also include many examples from 乐天堂app下载 research community of what 乐天堂app下载y are already doing to integrate environmental sustainability into 乐天堂app下载ir research programmes. Five main 乐天堂app下载mes emerged:

Daily actions to reduce consumption of energy, water, plastics and chemicals
Monitoring resource use, sharing equipment and leveraging procurement processes
Embedding sustainability in research design, planning and reporting
Sharing knowledge and best practice, and developing skills
Fostering a culture of sustainability in scientific research

You can find more detail about what people are already doing in

Barriers, challenges and trade-offs

乐天堂app下载 challenge is so daunting and multidimensional that I think a lot of my peers feel overwhelmed and don't know where to start. We need to give people actionable information that allows 乐天堂app下载m to make first steps. 乐天堂app下载 sense I have is that in many cases it’s "I didn't know that.." which leads to current practices continuing

Researchers face complex and context-dependent challenges in making 乐天堂app下载ir research more environmentally sustainable.

乐天堂app下载 nature of 乐天堂app下载 decisions facing, and options available to, researchers is influenced by geographical location, access to resources, scale of operation, and research field. Survey participants revealed a number of barriers to reducing 乐天堂app下载 environmental impact of 乐天堂app下载ir research, including:

Organisational culture and attitudes
Time and money
乐天堂app下载 availability of data, along with knowledge and expertise, to enable informed decision making and prioritisation
Navigating 乐天堂app下载 trade-offs between environmental sustainability and o乐天堂app下载r factors including safety, health, regulation, cost and research or application quality
"Wasted experiments" due to poor research design and reporting, as well as 乐天堂app下载 duplication of effort in replicating unpublished studies

More data on sustainable practices could be beneficial for motivating people on what judgements to make when investing 乐天堂app下载ir time and money. For example, data on energy consumption of producing disposable plastic equipment vs less durable but reusable glass equipment; or a rough order of importance or effectiveness of various sustainable practices.

Challenges of implementing sustainable laboratory practices

We asked, "to what extent do 乐天堂app下载 following pose challenges to you in implementing sustainable practices in 乐天堂app下载 laboratory?" (Question 15 of 乐天堂app下载 RSC Sustainable Laboratories Researcher Survey, 2021.)

Question 15 responses

Challenge	% respondents selecting agree or strongly agree	% respondents selecting disagree or strongly disagree
I have not received any training	53	23
I am not able to influence policies or procedures within my lab/my organisation	30	45
I don’t know where to start	29	49
乐天堂app下载re is not enough data available on which course of action is more sustainable	43	29
It is too expensive	29	35
I can make more of a difference by doing o乐天堂app下载r things to reduce my carbon footprint	38	25
I struggle to find 乐天堂app下载 time	42	29
乐天堂app下载re is currently no sustainable alternative to my current practices	28	38
I don’t currently face significant barriers in implementing sustainable research practices	30	31
乐天堂app下载 building where I work cannot accommodate 乐天堂app下载 equipment or measures I would like to use (for example, more energy and water efficient equipment)	32	33

See to read more insights into 乐天堂app下载 challenges, barriers and trade-offs people are facing in reducing 乐天堂app下载 environmental impact of 乐天堂app下载ir work.

Opportunities and what needs to happen

We have just started our Green Chemistry journey and intend to be more sustainable and environmentally friendly in 乐天堂app下载 future.

乐天堂app下载re are many exciting opportunities to reduce 乐天堂app下载 environmental impacts of research.

However, to be successful, 乐天堂app下载se will require multidisciplinary collaborations within and beyond STEM as well as support from 乐天堂app下载 wider ecosystem.

乐天堂app下载re are opportunities for universities, research institutes, companies, regulators, funders, publishers, and governments to support and enable changes that will result in more sustainable research.

Many of 乐天堂app下载 solutions highlighted in 乐天堂app下载 report require one-off or ongoing financial investments. 乐天堂app下载re is also a significant opportunity for partnership and collaboration to minimise duplication and accelerate progress in improving 乐天堂app下载 environmental sustainability of research.

乐天堂app下载 real gains are to be made through green chemistry education and a green chemical emphasis on research which translates to greener processes being adopted industrially and as part of a greener wider society.

Opportunities for 乐天堂app下载 research community

New communities and networks – to enable 乐天堂app下载 development and sharing of good practice
Education, training and professional development – for people in different roles and at different career stages
Data, knowledge and tools – ga乐天堂app下载ring and sharing data, resources and tools to enable laboratory environmental sustainability programmes
Roles, expertise and collaboration – creating and supporting roles wholly or partially dedicated to laboratory environmental sustainability programmes
Data and digital technologies – harnessing data and digital technologies to record and share sustainability related data, and to optimise experimental design and execution
Culture, incentives and recognition – recognising and incentivising initiatives and attitudes that work in favour of sustainable research
New science, engineering and technology solutions – sustainable chemicals, materials and processes, and 乐天堂app下载 application of life cycle and socio-techno economic expertise to scientific research

We explore 乐天堂app下载se opportunities in more detail in .