The Center for Health and Bioresources not only works on the challenges of meeting climate change, ensuring food safety, reducing CO2 and improving environmental protection, but also starts in its own laboratories. The Competence Units Bioresources and Molecular Diagnostics have taken measures to work in a resource-conserving and environmentally compatible manner.
As early as last year, the Center for Health and Bioresources, in cooperation with the association "Helfen statt Wegwerfen" (Helping instead of throwing away), began collecting suitable consumables and packaging material and recycling it. The proceeds from the sale of the plastic go to a social cause. In the first collection from April to September 2022, just under 200 kg of plastic waste was collected. This measure was proposed by Melanie Wittenberger, in the Competence Unit Bioresources in Tulln, and implemented together with her fellow technicians and Angela Sessitsch, the Head of Competence Unit Bioresources. In addition, the Unit is extending more sustainable work to the research areas outside the laboratories. Plant experiments are now only carried out in plant containers made entirely of recycled plastics, and in order to protect the environment, climate, flora and fauna even more, after a series of tests with substrates from various manufacturers, the unit switched for the most part to peat-free substrate.
Since then, separate containers for the collection of used laboratory material have been set up directly on site to enable immediate separation during work. Thus, the new processes could be implemented quickly and a total of 189 kg of packaging and consumables could be collected until the collection in September 2022. At the next collection in March 2023, 283.5 kg of recyclable material were already collected after the canteen in Tulln could also be won over for the campaign.
The Molecular Diagnostics Competence Unit at AIT's main site in Vienna has followed suit and started to implement the same measures in the HMD laboratories in Giefinggasse. Initial steps have already been taken here by collecting and returning cold packs, tip boxes and PET bottles. Last month, the first collection took place, where 87 kg of lab material could be picked up. Silvia Schönthaler established the measures on site and, thanks to the cooperation of all laboratory employees, waste separation was successfully introduced. Martin Jung, Head of Competence Unit Molecular Diagnostics, supports the laboratory staff in implementing further resource-saving measures. Thus, the total AIT contribution has already risen to more than half a ton of recyclable material for a good cause.
More Information (DE): helfenstattwegwerfen.at/