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The Next Frontier for Laboratories - Going Green

Joseph Lopez

Associate Professor and

Head,

Dept. of Biomedical Sciences,

MAHSA University

Kuala Lumpur

13th APFCB Congress, Bali, 28 Oct 2013

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Objective of this talkTo create an awareness of the environmental impact of clinical laboratories

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Laboratory

Human activity

Greenhouse gases

Global warming and climate change

Labs have a societal responsibility to reduce the environmental consequences of their activities

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Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine, Sept 2012; 50(9):1559-64

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Content

• Causes of global warming• Evidence for global warming• Why labs are a source of global warming• Environmental policy for labs• Guidelines for good environmental

practices

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Causes of Global Warming

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Greenhouse Gases• Greenhouse gases cause global

warming • Notably:

– carbon dioxide – ~80% – methane – nitrous oxide– fluorinated gases

• Greenhouse gases trap the sun's rays within the Earth's atmosphere

• Sources of greenhouse gases:– energy production, – deforestation, – agriculture – waste disposal

http://www.whatsyourimpact.eu.org/main-greenhouse-gases.php

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Energy and Greenhouse Gases

http://www.globalchange.gov/publications/reports/scientific-assessments/us-impacts/climate-change-impacts-by-sector/energy-supply-and-use

http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/global-warming/gw-causes/

Production and use of energy is the primary cause of global warming

Energy production

CO2

Global warming

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Evidence that atmospheric CO2 has increased since the Industrial Revolution (Source: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration NOAA)

http://climate.nasa.gov/evidence/

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Is Global Warming Happening?

• Earth has been warming for 100 years

• Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in 2007, the reported that 11 of the 12 warmest years since 1850 occurred between 1995 and 2006

http://www.edf.org/climate/global-warming-facts

http://www.edf.org/climate/how-we-know-the-earth-is-warming

There is scientific consensus on the basic facts of global warming

The most respected scientific bodies have stated that:global warming is occurring people are causing it

There is scientific consensus on the basic facts of global warming

The most respected scientific bodies have stated that:1. global warming is occurring2. people are causing it

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Temperature records since 1850 show:1. warming of the Earth over the past century 2. particularly rapid heating over the past few decades

http://www.edf.org/climate/how-we-know-the-earth-is-warming

Global Temperature, 1850-2000

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Impacts from Rising Temperatures

• Floods and droughts more common

• Less fresh water available

• Rising sea levels

• Climate change

• Ocean acidification

• Changes in ecosystem

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Shrinking ice sheets

• Global warming has effect on the world’s ice masses such as: – mountain glaciers – ice sheets covering

West Antarctica and Greenland,

– Arctic sea ice

http://climate.nasa.gov/evidence/

Flowing meltwater from the Greenland ice sheet

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Shrinking ice sheets

• The Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets have decreased in mass.

– Greenland and Antarctica decreased at least 150 cubic kilometers a year since 2002 and 2006

http://climate.nasa.gov/evidence/

Flowing meltwater from the Greenland ice sheet

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Source: Economist, June 16-22, 2012

Summertime sea ice cover over the Arctic Ocean is also declining, and in some areas this ice cover is thinning rapidly.

Ice is melting worldwide, especially at the Earth’s poles.

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http://nsidc.org/arcticseaicenews/files/2012/06/Figure3.png

The National Snow and Ice Data CenterAdvancing knowledge of Earth's frozen regions449 UCB  University of Colorado  Boulder, CO 80309-0449

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Arctic sea ice has plummeted to its lowest levels ever this year (2012) Photgraph: Steven J Kazlowski/Alamy; Source: Guardian 28 June 2012

Source:Guardian

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Source: Economist, June 16-22, 2012

Source: Economist, June 16-22 2012

Source: Daily Telegraph, 19 Nov 2009

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1912 1938 1958

Denver Glacier in Recession

http://nsidc.org/news/press/day_after/q2.html

Glacial retreatMost mountain glacier regions are in decline.

Glaciers are retreating in the Alps, Himalayas, Andes, Rockies, Alaska and Africa

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Rise of Sea Level, 1860-2008

• Global sea level rose about 17 cm (6.7 in.) in the last century.

• However, the rate in the last decade is nearly double that of the last century.

http://www.edf.org/climate/how-we-know-the-earth-is-warming

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Ocean acidification

• Increased human activity has increased CO2 emissions into the atmosphere which is absorbed into the oceans.

• Since start of the Industrial Revolution, the acidity of surface ocean waters has increased by about 30%.

http://climate.nasa.gov/evidence/

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Changes in Ecosystems

• Adélie penguins on Antarctica: – from 32,000 breeding pairs to 11,000 in

30 years.

• Some butterflies, foxes, and alpine plants – have moved farther north or to higher,

cooler areas.

• Polar bears: since the mid-1980s, – polar bears have gotten considerably

skinnier, with less ice on which to live and fish for food  

– If sea ice disappears, the polar bears may as well.

• Some diseases will spread, such as malaria carried by mosquitoes

Source for climate information: IPCC, 2007

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Energy Consumption of Laboratories

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Global Medical Labs Market

• Global Medical Laboratories Market to Reach US$102 Billion by 2018 (Global Industry Analysts, Inc.)

• http://www.prweb.com/releases/medical_laboratories/clinical_laboratories/prweb9693406.htm (accessesd 3 Nov 2012)

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Energy Usage of Laboratories

• Labs are energy intensive

• Labs use 5 to 10 times more energy per square foot than an average office building

US EPA states that Labs can reduce energy use by 30 to 50%

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Guidelines to reduce environmental impact

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Survey of IFCC members on the mitigation of the environmental impact of laboratories December- January 2010

Question Yes No Don’t know

Besides proper waste disposal, are you aware of clinical laboratories in your country that have Action Plans to reduce their environmental impact by way of reduced power and water usage, reduced utilization of plastics, chemicals and paper, greater recycling of material, reduced use of fuels, encouraging staff to use less energy, etc.

11 16 4

Have clinical labs in your country addressed the issue of carbon footprints of laboratories?

3 21 6

Do you think that it would be helpful if the IFCC provided some basic guidelines to clinical laboratories on how they could reduce their carbon footprint

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Are you aware of ISO14000 standards and what they relate to?

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Do you know of any clinical laboratories in your country that have received ISO14000 certification?

2 20 9

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COMMITMENT

Environmental policy

AnnounceEnvironmental

POLICY

Support of senior

management

Initial costs offset by

long term savings

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Elements of an Environmental Policy

• Corporate Social Responsibility – to include responsibility on stewardship of the environment

• Minimise / eliminate activities which impact environmental

• Minimise consumption

• Reduce waste through the reduction, reuse or recycling of materials.

• Implement good waste management systems for pathology waste

• Review environmental practices at least annually.

• Commitment to heighten environmental awareness– Provide staff education – Advocacy: encourage customers, suppliers and other

stakeholders to mirror commitment to environmental responsibility.

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Preliminary environmental

review

Action Plan

Target setting

Create awareness

Trainng

Available legislation

Audits

Documentation

Trainng

Available legislation

Audits

Trainng

Available legislation

Documentation

Audits

Trainng

Available legislation

Preliminary environmental

review

Target setting

Create awareness

Trainng

Preliminary environmental

review

Target setting

Create awareness

Available legislation

Trainng

Preliminary environmental

review

Target setting

Create awareness

Audits

Available legislation

Trainng

Preliminary environmental

review

Target setting

Create awareness

Preliminary environmental

review

Create awareness

Target setting

Preliminary environmental

review

Create awareness

Available legislation

Trainng

Target setting

Preliminary environmental

review

Create awareness

Documentation

Audits

Available legislation

Trainng

Target setting

Preliminary environmental

review

Create awareness

Create awareness

Target setting

Preliminary environmental

review

Create awareness

Trainng

Target setting

Preliminary environmental

review

Create awareness

Available legislation

Trainng

Target setting

Preliminary environmental

review

Create awareness

Audits

Available legislation

Trainng

Target setting

Preliminary environmental

review

Create awareness

Documentation

Audits

Available legislation

Training

Target setting

Preliminary environmental

review

Create awareness

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Environmental Management System

Plan

Do

Check

ActContinuous

improvement

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EMSISO 14001

QMSISO 15189

Integration of EMS with QMS

• Principles, procedures for EMS and QMS are same

• EMS and QMS should be integrated

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Staff Training

Reward workable ideas

Ways of reducing environmental impact

Identify areas of waste reduction

Raise awareness

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Lab Environmental Manager

• Appoint a Lab Environmental Manager to be in-charge of the EMS

• Initially, an existing staff member • Should work closely with QMS manager

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3Rs – Reduce, Reuse, Recyclemain pillars of efforts for environmental improvement

Each activity to mitigate environmental impact will come under one or more of these headings.

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Reuse • Reuse as much as possible before replacing • Replace as far as is possible, with reusable items.

Recycle• ensure items/components are put to new purpose

as much as possible • recycling program should be financially sound

Reduce consumption of energy, natural resources and unsafe products.

3Rs – Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

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Some Proposals for Mitigation of Environmental Impact

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Green purchasing policy

Purchase goods, services:• that minimize negative environmental impacts• From suppliers who share lab’s commitment to environment

Manufacturing

Disposal

Recyclable productsLocally produced (where possible)

Recycled products Packaging

Less toxic

Transportation

Ordering patterns

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Equipment selection

• Factor in the environmental impact of the equipment at evaluation

• Purchase energy-efficient equipment

• Priority to equipment with a lesser environmental footprint in regard to: – Water consumption. – air-conditioning or heating requirements

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Reagent selection

Where possible use• Alternatives to reagents

with harmful ingredients.

• Use smaller test kits - less packaging which require less refrigeration

• Locally produced reagents - smaller carbon footprint when transported

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Packaging wastes

• Persuade disposal contractors to provide reusable containers for the disposal of laboratory sharpes.

• May be achieved by the use of Stericycle® bio boxes (in USA)

• A pilot study at Harvard Medical School saved 2,026 lbs of plastic from reusable sharp bins.

Sharps Disposal Container for Stericycle

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Packaging wastes

Where possible negotiate with vendors to:

• Use less packaging • use biodegradable or

recyclable packaging • take back packaging for

reuse.

Labs • produce large amounts of solid wastes • should reduce solid waste volume

• Labs may reuse packaging boxes for sending out items

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Laboratory furniture

Where possible purchase:• used or reusable laboratory

furniture • environmentally-friendly

furniture.

Thermo Scientific Hamilton Distinction® II Adaptable Laboratory Furniture System. Constructed from environmentally friendly materials and manufacturing processes

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Reducing energy usage and wastage

• Laboratories consume more energy per square foot, often x5 as much compared with non-laboratory buildings such as offices.

• Clean-rooms: consumption can be is 10-100-times higher.

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Lighting in Labs

• Lighting in laboratories is up to x2 that of a typical office space.

• Lighting energy use typically accounts for 8% to 25% of total electricity use

• Use LED lighting

http://www.i2sl.org/documents/toolkit/bp_lighting_508.pdf, accessed 3 Nov 2012

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Source: http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~epsgreen/labs.html

Fume Hoods

• Use enormous amounts of energy

• Typical fume hood (USA) that runs 24 hours a day, 365 days a year uses X3.5 more energy than the average house.

• New models allow significant energy reduction.

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Recycling of Solvents

• Recycling of solvents Xylene, alcohol, formalin by CBG Biotech Supreme Solvent Recycler

• 90-95% recovery

• Cost-savings

Xylene, alcohol benchtop recycler;10 L CBG model

*Courtesey, Badrick T, Sullivan Nicolaides, Australia

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Good Practices• Daily “end of day” lab and office walk-throughs - to

manually close lights equipment, instruments.

• Chiller/heat temperature and humidity controls - adjust according to the seasonal demands.

• Analytical equipment and processes: shut down when not in use

• Regular equipment maintenance

• Consolidate equipment and instruments of different units of the laboratory where feasible.

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Transportation

Vehicles select fuel-efficient fleet vehicles review routes and usage

Staff encourage and provide incentives to laboratory staff to use public transport or bicycles

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Reduction

• Reduction of test numbers – audits of tests requested and their

usefulness to identity unnecessary requests

• Reduction in the use of collection tubes

• Reuse of specimen collection bags • Paper management to reduce usage• Waste reduction • Water Usage

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Paper Usage

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle • Reduce:

– introduction of paperless systems; – Introduction of non-paper options

where possible

• Reuse: Print and photocopy double-sided

• Recycle

• Paper usage audits

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Clean Water

• Deionised water – Consider resin technologies instead of

Reverse Osmosis systems, since the latter are wasteful of water and energy.

• Perform an audit of water usage and look for ways to reduce water usage

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Environmentally-friendly buildings

• The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) - an internationally recognized green building certification system

• The LEED standard has been adopted in the USA as the industry standard of measurement for green buildings

• Such buildings: – use environmentally preferable materials – reuse building materials – Achieve energy reduction through

modifications and operational changes – have improved water-usage efficiency and

waste handling

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Advocacy - Influencing others

• Staff: – engage in carbon-offsetting

activities

• Vendors: – Contractual conditions on vendors to be more

environmentally friendly in dealings with the laboratory

– to supply instruments that consume less energy, water and produce less waste.

– powered reagents requiring reconstitution - leaves a smaller carbon footprint when transported

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What we need to do

• Make a commitment

• Reduce disposables: – Wash and reuse – use less plastics

• Reduce energy consumption

• Buy: – powdered reagents reconstituted at point of usage – chemicals in reusable/returnable containers– Take back packaging– Instruments that consume less energy, water

• Remember: Cost savings in good environmental practices

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Thank you