Spotlight on Sustainable Manufacturers and Vendors

Based on demand from concerned laboratories, manufacturers around the world have begun to produce lab equipment with fewer environmental impacts. As part of their efforts, some manufacturers have worked to obtain the ACT label for their products. The Accountability, Consistency, and Transparency (ACT) label works like a nutrition label, providing a 1 to 10 rating on lab product manufacturing, energy and water use, packaging, and end-of-life aspects. The lower the score, the lower the environmental impact of the product. ACT labeled products are independently audited by SMS Collaborative and verified by My Green Lab.

During the 2020 International Institute for Sustainable Laboratories (I²SL) Virtual Conference, My Green Lab recognized five manufacturers who have made a commitment to obtaining the ACT label for their products and expanding their ACT labeled inventory:

• Thermo Fisher has 95 ACT labeled products. The company is developing educational materials to inform customers on how to divert their products and packaging from landfills.
• Eppendorf has four ACT labeled products, and expanded to include additional ULT freezers. Eppendorf was one of the founding pilot partners for the ACT program when in launched in 2017.
• Priorclave has 12 ACT labeled products. The company added 11 new product families just in the past year!
• MilliporeSigma has seven products with the ACT label. The company is one of the first manufacturers to significantly dematerialize an ACT product and its packaging.
• Agilent has four ACT labeled products. This year, Agilent launched the first Liquid Chromatography equipment certified within ACT.

Overall, The ACT program now has 347 labels total—251 of those labels have been created since the 2019 I²SL Annual Conference, for 260 percent growth in the past year! If you’re a manufacturer interested in learning more about the ACT label or would like to participate, check out My Green Lab’s website. If you missed the Freezer Challenge and ACT awards at the 2020 Conference, you can watch the recording here.

Spotlight on Sustainable Vendors

As I²SL transitioned to a virtual conference platform, several sustainable laboratory vendors offered their support to help I²SL continue to connect the global sustainable laboratory community and provide information and education to ensure safe, sustainable lab design, operation, and use during the COVID-19 pandemic. These vendors specialize in everything from HVAC control products to design and construction consulting to life science buildings and infrastructure. Check out the Spotlight on Sustainable Lab Vendors to learn more about CRB, Siemens, and Triatek by Johnson Controls.

Stream Your Favorite Sustainability Sessions

On-demand access for all 28 session recordings from the 2020 Virtual I²SL Annual Conference are now available to purchase and view through I²SL’s Teachable site. Create a free Teachable account, then sign up for each individual “course” by selecting the “Purchase This Recording” button; conference registrants can view them free of charge. You will be able to watch any recording in your account until October 2021. If you are an I²SL member, you can receive 25 percent off every conference session. Just use your login information and log into the Member Portal to find the discount code. Please contact I²SL if you have any questions.