Extend Product and Material Life

We are taking back, refurbishing, and recycling products and packaging for extended life.

Circularity and closed-loop design are worthy challenges. We are working to start closing the loop for some products that have reached their end of life by collaborating and designing for sustainable disposal and innovating ways to extend the useful life.

 

Our product take-back program is designed to efficiently remove certain products from a customer’s site when the products have reached the end of their useful life. Typically, that means reclaiming our instruments and extending the useful life, thereby avoiding wasteful disposal. Sometimes it means harvesting components or responsibly recycling components that we can no longer use. We are dedicated to meeting and exceeding global recycling requirements.

 

We don’t want excess instruments and consumables waste to take up space in your lab or the landfill. We are working to take back or help you recycle what remains. 

 

Extended life criteria

Our products that have extended life meet one or more of the following criteria:


For instruments

  • Is designed to be upgradeable to extend life
  • Has a take-back program in place
  • Can be readily disassembled and/or recycled at end of life

For plastic consumables and reagents

  • Is reusable compared to previous or comparable products
  • Can be readily disassembled, recycled and/or composted at end of life
  • Has a take-back or recycling program to return product after use

Browse selected products and technologies that extend product life

Copper electrode recycling for iBlot Transfer Stacks

To recover valuable copper metal from the iBlot 2 and iBlot 3 Transfer Stacks, we are partnering with reputable and certified recyclers in the United States and Europe to offer customers a way to recycle their used copper electrodes. 

Sustainability impact: By offering a recycling program, we support diverting waste from landfill by recovering and reusing our natural resources. The copper recycling program of the iBlot 2 Transfer Stacks is one small way we are reducing our environmental footprint.

Ion Torrent Chip recycling program

The Ion Chip recycling program provides customers with a convenient way to recycle used Ion Torrent chips. To recover valuable metals from these chips, we’re partnering with two reputable, certified recyclers in the United States, Canada, and Europe to collect and process the chips. To recycle your Ion chips, simply mail your used chips to the location closest to you using the addresses below.

Sustainability impact: Recovered metals are recycled into the manufacturing stream, which helps reduce additional mining of natural resources. 

United States:

Gannon & Scott
Attn: Thermo Fisher Ion Torrent Chip Recycling
2113 East Sky Harbor Circle South,
Phoenix, AZ 85034
Tel: 800.556.7296

Gannon & Scott
Attn: Thermo Fisher Ion Torrent Chip Recycling
33 Kenney Drive
Cranston, RI 02920

European Union:

REUZEit BV
Coenecoop 630
2741PV, Waddinxveen
Zuid-Holland (ZH), Netherlands

 

 

 

 

 

 

Canada:

ERS International
Attn: Thermo Fisher Ion Torrent Chip Recycling
2450 Lawrence Ave East, UNIT 3-15
Toronto, Ontario
M1P2R7

 

 

 

 

 

Recycle your pipette tips

With our pipette tip and box mail-back recycling program, you can transform your laboratory's plastic waste into a valuable resource. Simply collect your used pipette tips and boxes, and our convenient mail-back program helps take care of the rest.

Download the Greener Fact Sheet

Sustainability impact: Recycling program diverts waste from landfills by recovering and recycling single-use plastics. This valuable plastic material resource can be treated and recycled into a mixed plastic composite to create new plastic products.

SeqStudio Cartridge recycling program

The SeqStudio Cartridge is used for capillary electrophoresis on the Applied BiosystemsTM SeqStudioTM Genetic Analyzer. To provide customers with an easy way to responsibly recycle their SeqStudio cartridges, we partner with recyclers around the world to establish and maintain local recycling options.

Sustainability impact: SeqStudio cartridge materials reenter the manufacturing stream, which helps reduce additional mining of natural resources. 

A practical approach to sustainability: preventative maintenance

Equipment that is well maintained consumes less energy and generates fewer emissions and helps labs better achieve their sustainability targets. The environmental benefits of preventative service on equipment and instruments include:

  • Extended service and operational life of the equipment
  • Less waste and fewer resources consumed for replacement assets
  • Eliminate the need for replacements and spare parts
  • Reduced overconsumption due to inefficient equipment performance
  • Improved outcomes for end-of-life disposal and decommissioning

Sustainability insights

Get the facts. Find details on all green product claims for each of our greener product lines.

We take sustainable product design seriously and believe all greener product claims should be transparently documented. For each of our greener product lines, we provide a green fact sheet that explains and substantiates the greener product claim(s) related to that product line.

More criteria for designing to reduce environment impact

Less hazardous products and waste

Minimizing hazardous materials and hazardous waste in the lab is a win for both safety and the environment.

Less waste and use of fewer resources

When reducing waste in your lab, every little bit helps. Whether it’s reducing, eliminating or reusing. 

More energy efficient


More energy efficient products help power your work and support lab sustainability. 
 

Responsibly packaged and shipped

Solutions to reduce packaging, replace non-recyclable materials and ship products at ambient temperatures, when feasible.