{"id":395,"date":"2023-08-17T14:31:21","date_gmt":"2023-08-17T14:31:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/about\/info\/sustainability\/?p=395"},"modified":"2023-08-18T08:37:34","modified_gmt":"2023-08-18T08:37:34","slug":"sustainability-stories-lab-kitchen-services-a-hidden-gem-for-lab-sustainability","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/about\/info\/sustainability\/sustainability-stories-lab-kitchen-services-a-hidden-gem-for-lab-sustainability\/","title":{"rendered":"Lab Kitchen Services\u00a0\u2013 A hidden gem\u00a0for lab sustainability"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In this first edition of EMBL Sustainability Stories, we tell you about Magdalena Gierlach, supervisor of the lab kitchen services, and the continuing contribution of her team to EMBL\u2019s sustainability journey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Magdalena Gierlach, Lab Kitchen Supervisor. Credit: Stuart Ingham<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Researchers, who make up 0.1% of the population, generate almost 2% of the global plastic waste<\/a>, data that underlines the importance of our efforts to reduce and reuse. A recent study <\/a> calculated that reusing labware instead of using single-use versions can bring about an 11-fold reduction in the associated CO2<\/sub> footprint. EMBL\u2019s lab kitchen services play an important role in encouraging and enabling such behaviours.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Magdalena Gierlach started working for EMBL in 1996 and has worked to support and facilitate EMBL\u2019s science ever since. In conversation with her, she told the Sustainability Team of all the services her team offers and we discussed how they can support EMBL\u2019s sustainability goals. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Indeed, this may come as a surprise, but the services Magdalena and her team provide to EMBL members are extremely valuable, not only to facilitate research but also to support our sustainability strategy.  \u201cI was really happy to hear about the environmental benefits that the lab kitchen offers and we want to continue to help EMBL reduce its environmental impact in the future,\u201d Magdalena said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Magdalena\u2019s team is distributed into three general-purpose kitchens, one media kitchen and one fly kitchen. They are in charge of supplying labs with many different reagents and labware. Their work contributes to reducing our environmental footprint at several different levels; the reduction of plastic waste being one of the most relevant. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A good example of these efforts is the pipette tip refilling and sterilisation pipeline established by the kitchens, which is tailored to meet the different requirements of our units. The team normally refills the boxes from stackable tip racks but during the pandemic, they had an alternative plan to ensure the undisturbed supply of tip boxes: buying single tips and refilling the boxes manually. <\/p>\n\n\n