The laboratories of the Center for Health and Bioresources are part of Green Labs Austria and cooperate with the association "Helfen statt Wegwerfen” (“Helping instead of throwing away”). Care is taken to work in a resource-saving manner and suitable consumables and packaging material is collected and recycled by the association, the proceeds of the plastic sales are donated to a social cause. During the first collection from April to September, almost 200 kg of plastic waste were collected.
The experts at the Competence Unit Bioresources in Tulln are not only working on solutions to combat climate change and improve food safety and environmental protection, but they are also starting with themselves in the laboratory. With a focus on sustainable working and recycling, measures have been developed that can be implemented in everyday laboratory work.
Melanie Wittenberger, laboratory technician in the Competence Unit Bioresources of the Center for Health and Bioresources, proposed the new measures and introduced them with the support of Angela Sessitsch, Head of Competence Unit Bioresources. Melanie explains: "After the webinar "Green Lab - Sustainability in the Laboratory" and self-research into the possibilities for saving resources, I encouraged my technician colleagues from our laboratories to pay more attention to sustainable work, recycling, etc. and together we worked out measures for implementing this in our daily laboratory routine. I received a lot of encouragement, everyone was very motivated in this regard, and we also got the support we needed from Angela."
One measure is the collection of plastic for recycling in cooperation with the association "Helping instead of throwing away". Since April 2022, PP (polypropylene) and PE (polyethylene) have been collected separately in the laboratory and picked up by the association to be recycled. The proceeds from the plastic sold are used to support sick children. This includes money for therapies and therapy equipment, support for longer hospital stays and financial support for the affected parents. All Information at: https://www.helfenstattwegwerfen.at/
Separate containers for the collection of used laboratory material were set up directly on site, so that immediate separation during work is possible directly at the workplace. Thus, the new procedures were implemented quickly and 189kg of packaging and consumables were collected by the time of collection in September. To be exact: 24kg of flower pots, 94kg of tip boxes, 71kg of autoclaved bags of used tips, eppis, etc. This was only the beginning, further resource-saving measures are to be implemented in the work process and further collections are to be made. Melanie Wittenberger says "We are already very excited about the result of the next collection!"
The laboratory infrastructure of the Competence Unit Molecular Diagnostics (HMD) at AIT's main site in Vienna want to follow suit. The laboratory staff, with the support of Martin Jung, Head of Competence Unit, is in the process of implementing the same measures in the HMD laboratories in Giefinggasse. Initial steps have already been taken here by collecting and returning cold packs, tip boxes and PET bottles. Further measures are planned for 2023.
The laboratories of the Competence Unit Bioresources and the Competence Unit Molecular Diagnostics are both part of Green Labs Austria: https://greenlabsaustria.at/