Imperial labs are being encouraged to take part in a new scheme to measure and improve their sustainability and save money at the same time.
Earlier this year four Imperial labs took part in a pilot of the Laboratory Efficiency Assessment Framework (LEAF) with great success.
LEAF provides a defined sustainability standard for laboratories by recommending actions that lab users can take to reduce waste, energy, plastics and water. It allows labs to quantify savings, in both pounds and carbon.
The second phase of the pilot is starting early 2020 and labs are being encouraged to register their interest in taking part.
In the LEAF pilot the London Institute of Medical Sciences received a silver award, with the Qatar Complex Porus Media Lab and Hallett lab scoring bronze.
Taking part in LEAF gave us the momentum and guidance to make simple changes in our lab, reducing our impact on the environment. Dr Rosanna Young Freemont Lab, Dept of Infectious Disease
The Section of Structural and Synthetic Biology within the Department of Infectious Disease were also awarded a bronze award.
They achieved the criteria for the bronze award through a range of adjustments such as the decommissioning of an old freezer, improving waste streams to include more recycling options, and labelling equipment to show which should be switched off when not in use.
Professor Paul Lickiss, the new College Academic Leader in Sustainability, said: "I'm determined to make Imperial a more sustainable institution across all its campuses, and, at a science-based university like ours it's important that we look at what's going on in our own individual labs as well as at wider initiatives.
