Sustainable Packaging

Packaging design is an important focus to help ensure the quality and performance of our products while at the same time helping to minimize environmental impact. The first rule of packaging is that it must protect the product—whether from the mechanical rigors of handling and shipping or from extreme temperatures. Our goal is to design packaging solutions that preserve product integrity while maximizing freight density and therefore using less fuel. We are also utilizing technology that consumes fewer resources per reaction; redesigning the packaging of individual components within kits; reducing the use of dry ice and other cold shipping methods; and transitioning to more sustainable shipping materials. For example, we’ve recently developed a 100% recyclable paper cooler to begin replacing expanded polystyrene (EPS) foam coolers for cold shipping: for every 10,000 paper coolers we ship, more than 6,500 cubic feet of EPS is kept from landfills.

Our sustainability efforts are still being refined; but when we get it right, we lower our environmental footprint and delight our customers at the same time because they have less trash to throw away. With this in mind, we've put together a list of green solutions for sustainable packaging and "greenlight" our key products below.

Alternative packaging solutions can mitigate many adverse environmental impacts. We’re finding ways to reduce the environmental footprint of our products through innovating new products, switching to reusable packaging, and minimizing both recyclable and non-recyclable packaging material. Invitrogen ProQuantum immunoassay kits are one example: they use more sustainable packaging and offer less waste than a traditional immunoassay such as an ELISA. This is achieved through the assays’ proximity-based amplification technology, which allows researchers to detect lower levels of protein with lower sample input than traditional methods. With higher sensitivity and very low sample consumption, you not only can get the most out of your precious samples but also consume less plastic than other immunoassays. This technology also enables smaller packaging of ProQuantum kits—researchers can store four ProQuantum kits in the same space as just one traditional ELISA kit. These high-sensitivity immunoassays were developed to provide researchers with a simple yet powerful tool for protein quantification to help better understand disease, but they have the added benefits of using fewer resources and generating less waste.