Lunch Webinar from 26th of November

In this session, the three speakers highlighted key sustainability issues in a typical laboratory environment — from energy and resource use to waste generation — and guided participants through a case study illustrating practical steps toward more sustainable lab practices. The webinar also introduced the possibility of obtaining My Green Lab certification as a structured path toward greener lab operations. The overall aim was to inspire attendees to transform their own labs, or even entire departments, into more sustainable environments.

“Sustainable chemistry labs bottom-up and top-down – a case study”
Ass. Prof. Michael M. Lerch & PhD Thomas Freese, Groningen University, The Netherlands

Michael Lerch and Thomas Freese described how laboratories consume five to ten times more energy than office buildings of the same size, require large quantities of water, and generate hazardous waste. They emphasized that single-use plastics in research contribute roughly 2% of global plastic waste, and that global R&D emissions exceed the yearly emissions of entire nations such as the UK or the Netherlands.
They presented their recent work at the University of Groningen, including a case study demonstrating simple, effective measures to reduce the environmental footprint of everyday research practices in chemistry labs and beyond.

See all slides from the presentation. pdf, 6.1 MB. (6271 Kb)

“My Green Lab certification – practical implementation”
Merle Plassmann, Senior Staff Scientist, ACES, Stockholm University

Merle Plassmann shared the experiences from the My Green Lab certification process at the Contaminant Chemistry Unit, Department of Environmental Science at Stockholm University. She explained how the program offers structured guidance and tailored recommendations across critical areas such as waste handling, procurement and energy use — helping laboratories operate more sustainably in practice.

See all slides from the presentation pdf, 1.7 MB. (1730 Kb)

Moderator
Prof. Berit Olofsson, Stockholm University, Deputy Director of SUCCeSS