Tips for A Greener Laboratory

With the ever increasing concerns for our environment, Anachem is proactively taking steps to minimise the impact our business has on it.
Anachem has established an Environmental Management system to define the policies and procedures in place to conform to all elements of ISO 14001: 2004 which was awarded to us in June 2006. Read more about Our Environmental Policy and WEEE Compliance.

We promote a full range of Reduce, Reuse and Recycle initiatives with both our employees and customers. A few are detailed below but you can also Contact our Green Team to find out more: gogreen@anachem.co.uk

Initiatives That Help Our Customers Have a 'Greener' Laboratory

Tip Refill Systems	Biodegradable Tip Packaging	Tip Packaging Recycling	Online Ordering

Product Packaging	Environmentally Friendly Office	Company Cars	EcoButton

Tip Packaging Options

Pipette tips are an important laboratory consumable used in vast numbers. But their racks, whilst offering convenience and sterility create a lot of surplus material.

Tip Refill/Reload Systems

Anachem offers a number of solutions to reduce packaging at source with unique tip refill systems from Gilson, Rainin and our own brand lines that enable the same rack to be refilled and reused repeatedly. These dramatically reduce the amount of plastic used in their manufacture (up to 85% less) and thus minimse waste and environmental impact. More about Tip Refill Systems

Biodegradable Packaging
In addition all packaging for the new EarthSaver™ range of pipette tips from Anachem is made completely from biodegradable material. This includes the plastic tip racks and refill inserts that are manufactured from a co-polyester that fully degrades in an environmentally safe manner.

Recycling

Management of laboratory waste is becoming increasingly important. Whilst the use of tip refill systems will reduce excess packaging, an efficient, easy-to-use recycling scheme also brings great environmental benefits.

Anachem currently has recycling schemes in laboratories set up all over the UK to help ensure that the plastic material created from pipette tip packaging can be re-used or recycled.

All Anachem tip packaging can be recycled. It is made of one of two types of plastic: polypropylene or PETE.

For larger laboratories joining the Anachem recycling scheme we can provide colour coded wheelie bins or boxes for your laboratory to make it easy for users to separate the different types of plastic. We can even provide colour coded bags for the material to be collected in. Find out more about tip packaging recycling with Anachem.

Other Eco Friendly Activities at Anachem

On-Line Ordering Ordering on-line with Anachem is an environmentally friendly option as no paper is used. Your order is processed automatically and an electronic confirmation is provided. With the Internet and E-mail becoming ever more widely used, our marketing campaigns are increasingly sent via E-mail, reducing the amount of paper used. If you would like to sign up to the latest E-mail alerts with all our news and special offers please click here.
Warehouse Packaging All delivery cartons are manufactured from recycled card. All protective stuffing is now shredded recycled paper instead of using polystyrene chips.
Company Car Scheme Travelling to customer sites is essential to ensure Anachem can provide the contact, technical support and service scientists need. However, we are taking action to fulfill this obligation with a greater environmental conscience by adopting a new ‘greener’ company car policy. The diesel-only fleet limits vehicle choice to cars with a maximum CO2 emission figure of 180g/km. In addition Anachem has joined its fleet provider’s CARbon Offset initiative. Under this scheme the company will offset the carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from its fleet of vehicles, through the planting of almost 4,000 trees, in association with the Woodland Trust.
Office All office paper is recycled by F&R Cawley Ltd, from photocopy sheets to business magazines. All our business cards are made from recycled card. Marketing material is printed on sustainable source paper and our database is closely managed to avoid duplication. You can help too, by notifying us if a colleague moves on, so we can ensure information is sent to the correct address and avoid wastage. We send our printer cartridges to be recycled. China cups are used as much as possible to limit the use of disposable cups All staff are aware of energy efficiency and excessive heating, air-conditioning and lighting are avoided where possible. We even have our own Anachem fleece jackets made from recycled PET plastic to keep staff comfortable in winter while keeping the heating to a minimal level.
Eco Friendly Merchandise We now focus on sourcing more environmentally friendly promotional giveaways. Look out for our Anachem rulers made from recycled polysterene, mugs that are made from recycled plastic and pencils that are made from recycled newspaper. We even have desk tidies in the shape of recycling bins to help get the message cross. Plus the latest energy saving gizmo for your PC the'ecobutton™' which helps remind you to put your computer in sleep mode when you are not using it.