Making Lab Sustainability Part of Everyday Lab Operations

On 17 September, the lab community gathered at Amsterdam Science Park for the second Netherlands edition of SciSure Talks, focused on Sustainable Lab Practices, in collaboration with My Green Lab and supported by the Amsterdam Chemistry Network (ACN).

The evening focused on a practical question: how do we turn sustainability goals into actions that become part of everyday laboratory work?

Targeted actions, amplified impact

Manon Bezemer, Head of Purpose & Impact Management at Winclove Probiotics, opened the programme with a discussion on implementing the My Green Lab Certification and turning sustainability ambitions into day-to-day practices that teams can maintain.

Joep Sprangers, Sustainable Lab Coordinator at UMC Utrecht, followed with The Hidden Footprint of Laboratories and What You Can Do About It, showing how targeted operational choices can create meaningful environmental impact.

Some of the practical examples discussed included:

• Setting ULT freezers to -70°C instead of -80°C can reduce average energy consumption by approximately 25%. A single -80°C freezer can consume as much energy as two Dutch households, and with around 200 ULT freezers at UMC Utrecht alone, the impact of a relatively small change can quickly add up.
  

• Regularly cleaning ULT freezer filters and condenser coils helps equipment run more efficiently. A clogged filter alone has been reported to increase energy consumption by around 14%, with the impact becoming even greater when combined with dust buildup on condenser coils.  

• Initiatives such as the My Green Lab Freezer Challenge and Green Labs NL show how individual actions can scale across teams, labs and organisations, turning relatively small operational changes into measurable collective impact.

From discussion to action

During a practical workshop led by SciSure, participants explored opportunities within their own laboratory environments, identified what could be improved, and developed practical ideas they could take back to their teams.

One of the areas touched during the workshop was the role of lab digitalisation in making more informed resource decisions. When inventory data is structured and up to date, teams can identify duplicate stock, monitor consumption patterns and expiry risks, and make purchasing decisions based on actual demand rather than assumptions. This can reduce unnecessary procurement and material waste, while giving labs a stronger basis for identifying where resources can be used more efficiently.

Sustainability is part of the workflow

Sustainable science happens when scientists manage equipment, chemicals and inventory, purchase materials, document research and make every day operational decisions.

This is also where My Green Lab and SciSure complement each other. My Green Lab provides recognized sustainability standards, certification and education, while SciSure connects those practices with the digital environment where laboratory work is managed.

Guidance → Workflow → Behaviour → Impact

Sustainability guidance becomes part of existing laboratory workflows, helping teams build consistent practices and make progress that can be measured and reported on over time.

Learning from each other

The evening ended with networking, with discussions from the talks and workshop continuing around the room. Participants shared experiences from their own laboratories, compared challenges and exchanged practical ideas.

“Science moves faster when the people behind it are connected. Making a lab more sustainable, or more efficient, is rarely something you crack alone, and evenings like this let people swap what has actually worked in their own labs, learn from each other's mistakes, and leave with ideas they can put into practice.

Building a strong community around the lab and science space is how good practice spreads, one honest conversation at a time.”
‍
‍– Jawahar Kopparam, LifeSciences Business Developer at Amsterdam Chemistry Network.

SciSure Talks is here to create space for the community not only to discuss where science needs to go next, but to learn from the people already making changes, understand what works in practice, and make that knowledge useful beyond one lab, team, or event.

Want to be part of the community? Follow our events calendar to discover upcoming SciSure Talks, meetups and other opportunities to join us.

‍

‍