Plastic takes roughly 1,000 years to decompose.  Despite this, global plastics production has steadily increased over the last century and now exceeds 450 million tons every year.  Research is responsible for a portion of global plastic waste and there are options available to reduce use and improper disposal which will reduce the associated burden and can save money. 

Purchase of media filters (for use with glass storage bottles) instead of filter units cuts the price tag in half and halves the plastic waste.  Another option is autoclavable media filter units, which removes the need to dispose of any plastic.  UI Biochemistry Stores now provides rack-less conical tubes, which are substantially cheaper than racked tubes and save significant Styrofoam waste. 

Picture of avoidable plastics

 

Try to select products with less packaging to reduce your plastic waste.  Packaging materials (unless contaminated) can be disposed of in normal trash.  Laboratories on 6th floor PBDB have averted approximately 30 feet of Styrofoam waste just by switching to rack-less conical tubes and have saved money by doing so.

Tip boxes are made from polypropylene plastic and are not recyclable at the University of Iowa.  Biochemistry Stores now offers PCR-safe cardboard-housed tip boxes, which are fully recyclable (except the plastic wafer) – these cost roughly the same as plastic-housed tip boxes.  However, because cardboard is not compatible with disinfectant sprays/wipes, cardboard-housed tip boxes are not appropriate in all situations (i.e. in situations when you would need to disinfect material prior to removing it from a biosafety cabinet).

Picture of tip boxes

Emma Thornell, research assistant professor, and Sarah Ernst, research manager, have led the way in sustainability efforts for their labs and collaborators.  They have worked with Biochemistry Stores to stock various products and provided the information for this article.

Citations: 

https://www.epa.gov/plastics/impacts-plastic-pollution 

https://ourworldindata.org/plastic-pollution 

https://hscnews.unm.edu/news/hsc-newsroom-post-microplastics-human-brains