Sustainable laboratory practise

Chemical laboratories have a significant carbon footprint. To tackle the climate crisis effectively, it is essential to conduct relevant research activities while ensuring they are carried out sustainably. By implementing sustainable practices, scientists can set an example and inspire positive change within the wider community. For more information, you can find an article detailing the principles of sustainable laboratory practices here.

In our own laboratoy, we try to implement as much of these concepts as possible. In particular, we aim to:

• reduce plastic waste by avoiding single-use utensils or reusing them as much as possible
• reduce halogenated solvent waste by recycling of e.g. fluorobenzene and 1,2-difluorobenzene
• use of green(er) solvent alternatives, e.g. 2-methyltetrahydrofuran instead of THF

In the future, we also aim to use more ressource-friendly benchtop analytical devices (NMR, EPR etc.) for routine measurements.