Making Research More Sustainable: Insights from the BMC Green Lab Initiative

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How can research become more sustainable in everyday lab practice? Jan Bartosch, PhD candidate at the Institute of Clinical Neuroimmunology at the Biomedical Center (BMC), talks to Stella Chroni from the Green Office LMU Campus Martinsried about the BMC Green Lab Initiative.

What motivates you to be part of the BMC Green Lab initiative?

‘‘We need people who actively try to change things and contribute to more sustainable research environments. That’s the great thing about our Green Lab Initiative and working together with many people from the BMC to tackle changes motivates me a lot.’’

!When I started my MSc thesis at the BMC, I joined our institute’s Green Lab group (grINIM). It was great connecting with other students who were also passionate about making our research more sustainable and were already driving changes in small but meaningful ways. Later, I became involved in the broader BMC Green Lab Initiative. It brings together people from different departments and backgrounds to promote changes in the lab environment," says Jan.

What Jan finds especially important about the initiative is that it includes contributions from all levels — not just students, but also postdocs, PIs, technicians and even people in leadership roles. It’s not just a bottom-up effort. ‘‘Having support from the top — from people in leadership and management — really helps to drive change and connects us with the right people to make a real impact.’’

What kind of measures are you taking in your own laboratory, and in others, to effect change?

“Often, it is more about the small changes that are easy to carry out and that everyone can take with them. For example implementing plastic recycling programs, using glassware instead of single-use plastics or simply switching off devices after use,” says Jan.

One of the key measures they have implemented in their labs is a plastic recycling program. They sort different types of plastics — like PET and PS — using a proper system for collection and recycling, which helps reduce waste significantly. Energy-saving practices are also an important part of their efforts. This includes practical steps like turning off equipment such as centrifuges, bacterial shakers, and cell culture hoods when not in use — small actions that add up to meaningful savings over time. They have also taken measures to adjust the settings on the ultra-low temperature freezers — they don’t always need to be at -80°C. By shifting some to -70°C, they were able to save energy without compromising sample safety.

‘’There’s still a lot more we can do. One exciting step we’re planning is to introduce a machine that washes and reuses pipette tips, which make up a large proportion of lab waste. We’re working with the company Grenova to get that up and running soon,’’ says Jan.

What were the biggest challenges you encountered when implementing sustainable measures?

“Sometimes it is hard to understand the infrastructure and streamlines behind certain processes. For example, it can be difficult to find out who is involved in the waste management and what is happens to plastic waste that is supposed to be recycled. To tackle this, it really helps to have people like Dr. Henrike Klinker (Managing Director BMC) involved in our Green Lab Initiative who is well connected with different people working at and for the BMC.”

‘’The major challenges in setting up sustainable measures are also often related to the infrastructure because it is often already fixed and tailored to existing equipment and workflows. Introducing for example energy-efficient devices can then be very costly. That's why it's so helpful to work together on these plans and share equipment, efforts and costs throughout our Green Initiative."

What are your hopes for the future of our BMC campus in terms of sustainability?

“I really hope that more and more people and institutes join our Green Lab Initiative and start implementing some changes in their labs. Many times it does not demand a lot to reduce our environmental footprint. We have created a sustainable guide that everyone can download from our website. It helps by setting up some measures. It would be great if we could inspire more people and work out even more sustainable solutions.

I am therefore all the more pleased that LMU Hospital has shown an interest in our project, and that I am able to offer them my advice and support.”

What efforts have been made to promote the Green Lab Initiative and engage more people on campus?

“Communication plays such an important role to inform the people working and studying at our campus about our actions and to get more people involved. Raising awareness about the different sustainability initiatives happening here and sharing what we’re doing can really help engage the wider community,’’ says Jan.

One way that the Green Lab Initiative team tried to do this was through the Green Fact of the Month project in 2023. They used the digital screens at the BMC to highlight practical steps they have taken in the labs and show what everyone can do to make their work more sustainable!

A big milestone has already been hit

The My Green Lab certification programme is recognised by the United Nations Race to Zero campaign and has already been adopted by more than 2,000 laboratories worldwide. At LMU Munich, the BMC is among the first to take part. As a pilot project, the certification process was supported by LMU, and in February 2024 a second self-assessment was carried out to evaluate how the implemented measures had improved the sustainability of day-to-day laboratory work.

Based on this assessment, My Green Lab assigned certification levels to the participating chairs and institutes. The five BMC units achieved Silver (1), Gold (1), Platinum (1), and Green (2) – the latter representing the highest level. One of the first major successes of this initiative.