Tips to integrate sustainability into day-to-day university lab practice

Universities often approach sustainability either at the level of individual laboratories or through institution-wide strategies. But departments sit in a critical middle ground: close enough to day-to-day activity to implement change directly, and large enough to influence infrastructure, procurement and teaching. 

We’ve produced a new handbook in collaboration with independent representative body Heads of Chemistry UK, which brings together practical experience from across chemistry departments. It shows how heads of department can turn sustainability ambitions into tangible action.  

Opportunities for immediate, low-cost changes 

One principal message from the handbook is that progress does not depend only on large-scale transformation. There are opportunities for effective interventions across scales – from bottom-up and top-down, to everything in between.  

Low-cost changes to explore could include: 

• reviewing building opening hours and aligning them with actual use
• improving heating and ventilation controls through building management systems
• introducing behavioural prompts, such as signage on fume hoods to encourage closing sashes.

Laboratories, which generally have a high environmental footprint, also offer opportunities for quick wins. Changes such as reusing lab coats, reducing disposable glove use and increasing ultra-low freezer temperatures from –80°C to –70°C can deliver measurable reductions in energy use and waste without compromising research quality. 

Use sustainability to cut costs 

For departments operating under financial pressure, sustainability measures can also help reduce costs. The handbook highlights multiple examples where environmental improvements and financial savings provide a series of win-wins. Examples are practical measures such as helium recovery systems that can pay back their upfront costs within a few years, solvent recycling that cuts both purchasing and disposal costs, and changes to building use that deliver immediate energy savings.

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In addition to energy and water savings, another key area to focus on is procurement. For example, coordinating purchasing, reducing duplication and considering the life cycle of equipment can lower both costs and environmental impact. Maximise the value of existing resources further by sharing facilities or pooling equipment. Additional opportunities include: 

• recycling solvents such as acetone used in both teaching and research labs
• recovering helium from analytical instruments for reuse
• introducing nitrogen generation systems to replace delivered gas cylinders.

Embed sustainability in teaching and culture 

Departments are also embedding sustainability into teaching and student experience in ways that reinforce learning and employability. 

In addition to creating stand-alone modules, some departments are integrating sustainability across existing courses. This can include redesigning laboratory teaching practicals to reduce hazardous chemicals, creating “daisy-chains” of lab assignments where the products of one practical are the starting materials for another, or asking students to evaluate the environmental impact of their work. 

Engaging a wide range of staff and students is critical. Technical teams, researchers and early-career staff often play a central role in identifying and implementing improvements, helping to embed sustainability into the culture of the department. 

Some departments are also: 

• introducing departmental sustainability leads to coordinate activity
• using regular meetings or town halls to share progress and ideas
• linking student projects to sustainability challenges such as carbon audits or life cycle assessments.

Pilot small changes and scale what works 

Where data, infrastructure or funding are limited, departments can use estimates or pilot approaches to begin to make progress. Pilot projects like these can allow departments to test interventions, understand local constraints and build an evidence base for wider adoption. 

Collect and share data on energy use, waste reduction or cost savings to help colleagues and senior leadership see what is working and why it is worth scaling. Even where detailed data is not available, some departments described using estimates or proxy measures to guide decision-making. 

Visible leadership also matters. Heads of department play a key role in setting direction, supporting colleagues and creating space for sustainability initiatives to develop. 

Practical progress at departmental scale

The handbook demonstrates that meaningful sustainability progress can be achieved through practical, multi-pronged actions at departmental level. By focusing on changes that are achievable, evidence-based and support existing priorities, departments can deliver benefits for their institutions, their students and the environment. 

For heads of department, the key takeaways are to get started, make visible changes, build momentum through early successes and expand activity over time. Learn from peers within the institution and from wider networks beyond the university. In doing so, everyone can avoid reinventing the wheel and sustainability becomes part of how departments operate day-to-day, rather than an additional burden or large single project.