Last year we decided to really take ownership and do our best to lead as a small CRO in the chemical space on sustainability action.
We made a commitment and added sustainable investment to our values, and we didn’t stop there.
Digitisation
We have taken a great leap in going from a 95% paper-based business to now being around 20% paper based, in less than a year.
What a journey it has been.
The team were nervous, I was nervous! How do we maintain compliance being fully digital? We are only small; can we handle it? What will it cost?
Well, it actually cost very little and has saved us so much on paper and ink costs alone!
We now generate all Study Plans, Reports, and computerised system data electronically only (and very securely I might add!). The only paper element we have left to tackle is the raw data generated from the hands-on lab work. That one is a bit trickier, but we do intend to get there in the next 2 years.
Everything is done with authenticated signatures and locked for security. It has saved us so much time, we can now deliver even faster than before!
What else have we done you ask?
Recycling
We have taken steps to reduce our general waste, and really worked with the team to gain their investment and understanding of our goals and values. We encourage them to take these values home because sustainable living is for the future of us all.
This place used to be full of hoarders and then discarders! Now we are a team of recyclers.
Our general waste is now less than half of what it was just by learning to recycle more. Rather than discarding of old furniture and equipment, we recycle it.
We now only have half the waste collections we used to have, and we don’t plan on stopping there.
Reduced chemical waste and supply chain management
Our solvent and chemical waste has drastically reduced. People can easily over order by buying what you know and what you are comfortable with. We have pushed comfort boundaries only acquiring what we need, as well as looking into combination standards for screening work.
We scrutinised our supply chains to ensure quality and sustainability, reducing frequency of orders, combining deliveries, and moving to local options where practicable. In doing this we have reduced the number of transportation requirements coming to site and thus also supporting our supply chain sustainability commitments.
We have got smarter about waste segregation and recycling samples and reagents too. We work with partners and customers to recycle as much as we possibly can.
We communicate with our customers, so they only send what is essential for testing, reducing not only the waste, but the transport footprint and we work with them on uses for those products after they are ready for removal.
There are confidentiality challenges, and currently we recycle only around 10% of our samples. However, we intend to grow that to 50% over the next 12 months by looking at customer commitment to re-using suitable samples in local communities.
Sustainable Investment and team commitment
As well as recycling old equipment we have made sensible sustainable purchases to reduce our overall emissions, turned off what doesn’t need to be on, and used timers to ensure we use as little energy as possible.
Many small steps have taken place at the start of our journey and there are many more to come. Our next ventures will be to recycle our solvent waste through a specialist partner and develop our own internal mechanism to source suitable alternative chemicals to support greener chemistry.
As a chemical testing facility, and a very small business, it is a big challenge, and it will take us some time, but we are dedicated to the cause, and we have confidence that we will lead the way in sustainable laboratories!
We also plan to start more work in the local community, watch this space to see where our journey goes next!
If there is anything we can do for you, please get in touch and be sure to follow us on social media!
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