LEAF Lab Grants

Sustainable tissue culture swaps

LEAF team: Crossley Quinlan Lab

School/unit: Biotechnology & Biomolecular Sciences (BABS)

Initiative:

The Crossley Quinlan lab used their grant to purchase energy efficient, reuseable, water bath beads, replacing the need for chemically treated water in their water baths. They also purchased isopropanol-free cell freezing containers. 

Impact:

• Reduced water consumption and energy use of water baths. Bead-based water bath consumes 50% less energy than a traditional water bath.
• In just 3 months, 30L of germicide-treated water waste avoided
• Reduction in use of single-use 10L plastic containers required for treated water disposal and the chemical disposal process itself
• Reduction in use of bleach and ethanol as it is no longer required to clean water bath surface
• Greatly reduced risk of contamination, resulting in a reduction in plasticware and media waste that is produced by repeating experiments as a result of contamination
• Significant reduction in production of hazardous isopropanol waste (600ml reduction in 3 months)
• Reduced consumption of emissions heavy isopropanol
• Reduced use of single-use plastic containers required for isopropanol disposal

Consumable and sample management improvements

LEAF team: Zhang lab

School/unit: Biotechnology & Biomolecular Sciences (BABS)

Initiative:

Zhang lab improved the management and organisation of their -80 freezer samples. This was done by purchasing drawer style -80 freezer racks and logging all samples in mySample. This allowed samples to be located quicker and significantly reduce the time spent searching through freezers. Garage style shelving was also purchased for consumables to provide clarity on stock and reduce over-ordering. Finally, card holders were purchased for chemical label storage to encourage good labelling practices.

Impact:

• A significant amount of ULT freezer storage was created through the disposal of a third of the labs samples. Resulting in more efficient freezer use and lower energy consumption.
• Several forgotten cell lines were found, saving the wasteful reordering of these samples.
• The garage shelving has seen a significant reduction of excess reagent and consumable use. Before the initiative the group had 12 individual bottles of PBS due to unclear storage, which has now been reduced.
• They are now autoclaving glass tubes and bottles and placing these on the shelves. The availability of sterile containers in a visible location has reduced the labs consumption of single use plastics.
• By increasing the availability of chemical labels there has been a huge increase in appropriate labelling. This has minimised the frequent wastage of reagents which were not previously labelled.

Applying green chemistry to produce sustainable nanoparticles

LEAF team: NanoSoils

School/unit: Chemistry

Initiative:

The NanoSoils lab was aiming to apply green chemistry to design a universal method to synthesis nanoparticles. Alcohols are widely used to make silica nanoparticles. The team used their grant to trial and test the replacement of alcohol with water to synthesis silica nanoparticles with the same quality as original method. Water is a much less emissions intensive material than ethanol, therefore successfully switching this product has the potential to significantly reduce emissions associated with producing silica nanoparticles.

Impact:

• Analysis of the process change found that the number of nanoparticles obtained by using water instead of ethanol in the production is nearly the same. This finding has significant implications for how this process could improve the sustainability of nano particle synthesis.

Repair and reuse system for glassware

LEAF team: Field/Ball Lab

School/unit: Chemistry

Initiative:

The Field/Ball lab used their funds to implement a repair and reuse process to fix broken or damaged glassware. This was done by hiring the services of a glass blower to repair, rather than dispose of technical glassware which is damaged or broken. Disposing glassware with minor damage has become common place in many labs as it is cheaper and more convenient to purchase new glassware than it is to repair damaged items. This practice contributes to difficult to dispose waste and the embedded CO2 emissions in new glassware are more than 10x that of repairing glassware.

Impact:

• A designated area to store damaged glassware has been established.
• More that 20 items of technical glassware have been repaired.
• This process has demonstrated a different, more efficient way to deal with damaged technical glassware and the team are hopeful this might lead to an ongoing repair and reuse system across all UNSW chemistry labs.

Waste reduction through additive manufacturing

LEAF team: Science Workshops

School/unit: Deans Unit - Science

Initiative:

The Science workshops used their LEAF grant to purchase a new style of 3D printer that creates less plastic waste and is more resource efficient. The printer facilitates the use of additive manufacturing, reducing the plastic waste generated by the workshop as material is built up to form a complex shape rather than a solid block of plastic being shaped via traditional machining processes. This helps the Science workshop provide reuse and repair services to all lab users in a more efficient, less wasteful way. 

Impact:

• The lab has seen significant reductions in generated plastic waste when compared to their previous manufacturing processes.
• This team compared the creation of a part through machining and the creation of the same part using this 3D printing method and found plastic savings of 87%.
• The ability to manufacture plastic parts after hours is more time-efficient and uses less energy.

Reducing chemical usage during wafer cleaning

LEAF team: Australian National Fabrication Facility

School/unit: Electrical Engineering & Telecommunications

Initiative:

ANFF used their LEAF grant to reduce chemical usage and wastage in their lab. The team purchased a set of horizontal wafer carriers, which enabled the team to change their process and halve the volume of chemicals used for wafer cleaning. 

Impact:

• The usage of emissions intensive chemicals for cleaning has been halved. Resulting in approximately 27 litres of chemicals (Sulfuric acid, Hydrogen peroxide, Hydrochloric acid) being avoided per year.

Conversion of halogen light globes in microscopes to LEDs

LEAF team: Children’s Cancer Institute

Initiative:

CCI used their LEAF grant to purchase a LED conversion kit. This allowed them to convert a microscope from a halogen globe system to an LED system. 

Impact:

• Reduced energy consumption as LED’s use less power than halogen globes
• LED’s are a more reliable and longer lasting globe, this has significantly reduced the number of globes having to be replaced and disposed as hazardous waste

Expanding soft plastics and polystyrene recycling

LEAF team: Solar Lab

School/unit: Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering

Initiative:

The J17 Solar lab created a recyclable waste collection system for all labs in the J18/J17 building. This initiative involved purchasing trolleys, containers, a scale, and ratchet straps so that soft plastic and polystyrene across the building could be collected, weighed and then taken to the relevant recycling locations on campus by staff. 

Impact:

• From September to October 2024, a total of 3.4 kg of soft plastics (equivalent to two fully laden 240 L bins) and 0.75 kg of polystyrene (equivalent to one fully laden mesh trolley) were collected and sent for recycling. This material would have otherwise gone to general waste and the collection volume is expected to increase as the initiative continues into 2025. 

LEAF-ing the Mech Lab

LEAF team: Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering School

Initiative:

The Mechanical Manufacturing Engineering School used their grant to run workshops with around 50 attendees to train all regular staff on the LEAF program criteria and initiatives that have been implemented. 

Impact:

• Lab users within the Mechanical and Manufacturing school have been upskilled and educated about the LEAF program and encouraged to use sustainable practices in their labs.

Green balance keepers

LEAF team: Microfluidics Lab

School/unit: Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering

Initiative:

The Microfluidics lab developed a procedure for lab staff to check, calibrate, and maintain balances (lab scales), to ensure accurate measurements and extend the equipment's lifespan.

The initiative involved collecting and inputting parameters for every balance. Purchasing the calibration tools necessary and developing an in-house app to log readings and calculate accuracy. A protocol was then written to assist users in maintaining this process.

Impact:

• Equipment is maintained better, operates more efficiently and lasts longer before needing replacement
• Equipment is more accurate ensuring experiments don’t need to be unnecessarily repeated, avoiding consumable waste
• Has helped encourage a culture of routine equipment maintenance and responsibility

BABS Beach Clean day

LEAF team: Teaching Lab 1 and prep space 

School/unit: Biotechnology & Biomolecular Sciences (BABS)

Initiative:

The BABS Teaching lab team used their grant to organise a beach cleanup event for the School of Biotechnology & Biomolecular Sciences. The funds were used to purchase cleaning equipment, competition prizes and snacks for the day. 

Impact:

• The event was a success, happening on Tuesday, November 19, 2024, with 12 UNSW staff attending.

Switching to sustainable filtering systems

LEAF team: Kirby Institute

Initiative:

The Kirby Institute used their grant to replace their existing media filtering system with the Merck Stericup® E and Steritop® E filters. These are more sustainable lab products that thread directly onto a commercial media bottle or glass bottle (as opposed to using an extra single-use bottle). The Steritop® E device (filter only) and the Stericup® E filtration system (filter and receiving bottle only) utilise significantly less plastic as part of the filtration system and in their delivery packaging. 

Impact:

• A 23-48% reduction in the amount of plastic used per filtering unit
• An 11-69% reduction in the amount of plastic used in packaging
• A 26-73% reduction in the volume of product boxes on consumable shelves, which improves laboratory storage efficiency

Rechargeable batteries

LEAF team: Medicine and Health Teaching Labs

School/unit: Medical Sciences

Initiative:

The Medicine & Health teaching labs were going through a huge volume of batteries every month. They used their LEAF grant to invest in rechargeable nickel metal hydride (NiMH) batteries of different sizes (AA, AAA and C) and a battery charger. These batteries Are now collected when drained and recharged for reuse. 

Impact:

• Significant reduction in the purchase and disposal of single-use batteries in the lab.

Sustainable changes for the Physics First Year Teaching Lab

LEAF team: Physics First year teaching lab

School/unit: Physics

Initiative:

The Physics First year teaching lab used their grant to outfit the first-year lab with necessary appliances to improve and outwardly promote sustainability for students & teaching staff.  Paper was identified as the highest volume of waste in the lab. The team used their funds to purchase a dedicated paper recycling bin to ensure effective recycling and waste management. The team also replaced their end-of-life fridge with an energy efficient alternative.

Impact:

• Large volumes of paper are now being recycled in a space where this service was not previously available.
• Reduced energy consumption because of more efficient equipment.

Chemistry LEAF buddy event

LEAF team: Smart Materials & Surfaces lab

School/unit: Chemistry

Initiative:

In 2024, the SMS lab became the second UNSW team to achieve gold accreditation. They used their LEAF grant to run a LEAF buddy event. This event linked existing LEAF team members from the School of Chemistry with staff that were interested in lab sustainability and wanted to learn more about LEAF. The ‘buddies’ the helped staff set up new LEAF teams and explained the accreditation process. They used the LEAF funds to pay for catering for the event from Oz Harvest.

Impact:

• 4 x new LEAF teams were registered from the School of Chemistry. They are all on their way to Bronze accreditation. 

Transition to reusable and recyclable materials

LEAF team: Hunter lab

School/unit: Chemistry

Initiative:

Hunter lab used this grant to purchase reusable glass micro syringes to replace their use of disposable plastic syringes. The lab team also used their grant to create a convenient set-up for recycling acetone, a commonly used, high-volume solvent for washing glassware.

Impact:

• Large reduction in single-use plastic purchasing and waste creation.
• More efficient use and reuse of acetone, resulting in reduced consumption and waste of an emissions heavy product.

Cooling 405 with solar film

LEAF team: Samuels 405

School/unit: Biomedical Engineering

Initiative:

The Samuels 405 lab used their LEAF grant to purchase and install a solar film on their west facing windows. This film slightly tints the glass it is applied to, reducing heat load on the building but without significantly reducing light. Ultimately the lab hoped to lower their energy consumption by passively keeping the lab cool and avoiding excessive air conditioning use.

Impact:

• Reduced heat gain from sunlight into the lab by 20%.
• Reduction in HVAC energy consumption.