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Solutions for Less Waste
or Use of Fewer Resources
Reduce your footprint with products that create less waste or use of fewer resources
As a supplier of products for labs worldwide, we're focused on reducing waste—for ourselves and our customers. When minimising waste in your lab, every little bit helps. The products listed below support your work while reducing materials typically bound for a landfill, helping shrink your costs along with your footprint.
Our criteria for products that generate less waste and use fewer resources
We have rigourously evaluated products to ensure they meet at least one of the following criteria:
- Reduces the need to use other materials
- Product is made with less material
- Product contains recycled content
- Product contains content from renewable resources
Featured products and technologies that create less waste and use fewer resources
ART pipette tip reload towers and inserts
The ART Reload Towers and Inserts are designed with laboratory efficiency and sustainability in mind. Not only do they take up less valuable space on the shelf, but they also generate less plastic waste.
Sustainability impact: ART Reload Towers for 200 μL tips provide ten racks of tips using only 870 g of material compared to 1,590 g for ten hinged racks of the same style representing a 45% reduction in plastic waste. The ART Reload Towers for 20 μL and 1,000 μL tips generate 53% and 54% less waste, respectively.*
ART Reload Inserts also create less waste—23% for the 200 μL size, 25% for the 20 μL size, and 18% for the 1,000 μL size when compared to hinged racks.*
Nunc conical sterile centrifuge tubes
Nunc 15 and 50 mL polypropylene conical tubes are packaged in a compact, recyclable rack that eliminates the EPS (expanded polystyrene) rack typically used by other manufacturers.
Sustainability impact: The sustainable rack design generates up to 77% less packaging waste than traditionally packaged tubes and eliminates the need to dispose of expanded polystyrene racks in landfills after use.*
Nunc Edge 2.0 96-well plates
Nunc Edge 2.0 96-Well Plates are designed to minimise evaporation of cell culture medium from the plate and reduce risks of the "edge effect" that may occur on a standard 96-well plate. They contain less source material than other plates on the market, with a single plate (with lid) weighing only 59 g, compared to 62–65 g for other suppliers' plates.
Sustainability impact: Researchers use various strategies to counteract the 'edge effect' of standard plates, such as taping plates, preincubation, and avoidance of outer wells. However, these workaround strategies are inefficient in material use, labour, or both. In contrast, by requiring fewer materials and enabling effective use of all 96 wells, Nunc Edge 2.0 plates maximise time, budget, and resources. Overall they produce up to 9% less plastic waste and 37.5% more useful capacity.*
Nalgene syringe filters
We are committed to designing our products with the environment in mind. The entire product line of Nalgene syringe filters has been redesigned to use less plastic, so fewer resources are used regardless of the filter size selected.
Sustainability impact: The Nalgene 25 mm Syringe Filter uses 24–51% less source material (24% less for the 25 mm size, 45% less for the 32 mm size, and 51% less for the 33 mm size) than comparable filters on the market today.*
Attune NxT flow cytometer
The Attune NxT Flow Cytometer provides high sensitivity and throughput without sacrificing performance or accuracy. Acoustic focusing technology allows for more control over the sample, enabling increased flow rates without destroying cellular populations or losing detection sensitivity. Running a flow cytometry experiment becomes easier and greener: by limiting the amount of fluid used.
Sustainability impact: Low sheath fluid usage—generates only about 1–2 L of biological waste per run versus the 20 L generated by conventional cytometers, a reduction of 90–95%.*
Multidrop microplate reagent dispensers
Fill plates quickly with excellent precision and reproducibility with the compact Multidrop microplate dispensers. These dispensers utilise reusable autoclavable dispensing cassettes for the dispensing of reagents, diluents, cells, and beads.
Sustainability impact: Reduce your lab's plastic waste by utilising a bulk reagent dispenser and reusable dispensing cassettes rather than disposable tips. Reduce reagent waste with low volume dispensing, minimal dead volume and backflushing.
Countess reusable slide
Countess 3 Automated Cell Counters provide highly accurate and precise brightfield, and fluorescence cell counts even for challenging cell sample types.
The Countess Reusable Slide is a green, cost-efficient alternative to disposable slides. Even if your lab uses only a few slides per day, you can reduce cost and generate less waste per year with the reusable slide.
Sustainability impact: For a laboratory using five slides per day over a 261 working-day year, the use of disposable slides generates 7.2 kg of waste (including slide packaging).*
NanoDrop microvolume spectrophotometers
Get accurate DNA, RNA and protein quantitation with only 1–2 µL of sample in seconds with NanoDrop spectrophotometers. Pioneering sample-retention technology has evolved to bring you more knowledge about your sample, so that you can save days of troubleshooting and accelerate your research.
Sustainability impact: The NanoDrop spectrophotometers measure samples without the need for disposable cuvettes – reducing plasticware usage in the lab and using minimal sample volumes, saving your precious samples.
ART pipette tip reload towers and inserts
The ART Reload Towers and Inserts are designed with laboratory efficiency and sustainability in mind. Not only do they take up less valuable space on the shelf, but they also generate less plastic waste.
Sustainability impact: ART Reload Towers for 200 μL tips provide ten racks of tips using only 870 g of material compared to 1,590 g for ten hinged racks of the same style representing a 45% reduction in plastic waste. The ART Reload Towers for 20 μL and 1,000 μL tips generate 53% and 54% less waste, respectively.*
ART Reload Inserts also create less waste—23% for the 200 μL size, 25% for the 20 μL size, and 18% for the 1,000 μL size when compared to hinged racks.*
Nunc conical sterile centrifuge tubes
Nunc 15 and 50 mL polypropylene conical tubes are packaged in a compact, recyclable rack that eliminates the EPS (expanded polystyrene) rack typically used by other manufacturers.
Sustainability impact: The sustainable rack design generates up to 77% less packaging waste than traditionally packaged tubes and eliminates the need to dispose of expanded polystyrene racks in landfills after use.*
Nunc Edge 2.0 96-well plates
Nunc Edge 2.0 96-Well Plates are designed to minimise evaporation of cell culture medium from the plate and reduce risks of the "edge effect" that may occur on a standard 96-well plate. They contain less source material than other plates on the market, with a single plate (with lid) weighing only 59 g, compared to 62–65 g for other suppliers' plates.
Sustainability impact: Researchers use various strategies to counteract the 'edge effect' of standard plates, such as taping plates, preincubation, and avoidance of outer wells. However, these workaround strategies are inefficient in material use, labour, or both. In contrast, by requiring fewer materials and enabling effective use of all 96 wells, Nunc Edge 2.0 plates maximise time, budget, and resources. Overall they produce up to 9% less plastic waste and 37.5% more useful capacity.*
Nalgene syringe filters
We are committed to designing our products with the environment in mind. The entire product line of Nalgene syringe filters has been redesigned to use less plastic, so fewer resources are used regardless of the filter size selected.
Sustainability impact: The Nalgene 25 mm Syringe Filter uses 24–51% less source material (24% less for the 25 mm size, 45% less for the 32 mm size, and 51% less for the 33 mm size) than comparable filters on the market today.*
Attune NxT flow cytometer
The Attune NxT Flow Cytometer provides high sensitivity and throughput without sacrificing performance or accuracy. Acoustic focusing technology allows for more control over the sample, enabling increased flow rates without destroying cellular populations or losing detection sensitivity. Running a flow cytometry experiment becomes easier and greener: by limiting the amount of fluid used.
Sustainability impact: Low sheath fluid usage—generates only about 1–2 L of biological waste per run versus the 20 L generated by conventional cytometers, a reduction of 90–95%.*
Multidrop microplate reagent dispensers
Fill plates quickly with excellent precision and reproducibility with the compact Multidrop microplate dispensers. These dispensers utilise reusable autoclavable dispensing cassettes for the dispensing of reagents, diluents, cells, and beads.
Sustainability impact: Reduce your lab's plastic waste by utilising a bulk reagent dispenser and reusable dispensing cassettes rather than disposable tips. Reduce reagent waste with low volume dispensing, minimal dead volume and backflushing.
Countess reusable slide
Countess 3 Automated Cell Counters provide highly accurate and precise brightfield, and fluorescence cell counts even for challenging cell sample types.
The Countess Reusable Slide is a green, cost-efficient alternative to disposable slides. Even if your lab uses only a few slides per day, you can reduce cost and generate less waste per year with the reusable slide.
Sustainability impact: For a laboratory using five slides per day over a 261 working-day year, the use of disposable slides generates 7.2 kg of waste (including slide packaging).*
NanoDrop microvolume spectrophotometers
Get accurate DNA, RNA and protein quantitation with only 1–2 µL of sample in seconds with NanoDrop spectrophotometers. Pioneering sample-retention technology has evolved to bring you more knowledge about your sample, so that you can save days of troubleshooting and accelerate your research.
Sustainability impact: The NanoDrop spectrophotometers measure samples without the need for disposable cuvettes – reducing plasticware usage in the lab and using minimal sample volumes, saving your precious samples.
More sustainability resources
Improving energy efficiency through innovation
*Disclaimer: All data related to claims made on sustainability impact is available in the relevant product's green fact sheet.
Style Sheet for Global Design System