Analyzing the impact of glove recycling at MIT 

Labconscious would like to offer a hearty congratulations to MIT's Lisa Anderson and her collaborators for being one of the first grant recipients of the MIT's Office of Sustainability (MITOS) Campus Sustainability Incubator Fund!

Dr. Lisa Anderson postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Chemical Engineering who will be investigating the net environmental benefit of recycling laboratory gloves.  You can read our interview with Dr. Anderson about the pilot program for MIT Lab gloves recycling here.

When laboratories are deciding about operational changes, it's important to understand the multiple, contextual facets of a proposed process.   Examples of data for a lab glove disposal study may include ecological impact of diverted materials and compared energy usages.  This type of study is brilliant for informed sustainability!

This study will be carried out by Lisa Anderson, chemical engineering graduate students Thomas Carney and Kosi Aroh, Department of Facilities Recycling Manager Ruth Davis, faculty and researchers from the Departments of Materials Science and Engineering and Civil and Environmental Engineering, as well as several members of MIT’s Environmental Health and Safety Office and Green Labs program.

“Everyday when I walk into the lab, I ask myself: How do I balance research with sustainability?I think about all the resources that go into making scientific discoveries and pushing new technologies forward. Over half of a research grant can go towards overhead, such as paying for heating and cooling, that many researchers take for granted. I’m trying to bring sustainable practices into the research lab by re-purposing a common consumable, uncontaminated lab gloves.” -Lisa Anderson

Kudos to MIT Green Labs!  We will be eagerly following this study to see the results! 

Source:

New fund makes MIT a living sustainability lab: MIT Office of Sustainability announces awards to multi-departmental projects that test management, design, and operations solutions on campus.