My Green Lab (MGL) recognises labs with a Gold standard of sustainability.
The Department of Chemical Engineering’s Titirici Lab (led by Professor Magda Titirici), Petit Lab (Led by Professor Camille Petit) and Pini Lab (Led by Professor Ronny Pini) have been awarded the prestigious Gold certificate in acknowledgement of their sustainable laboratory best practices.
The award was provided by internationally recognised lab sustainability certifiers My Green Lab. The Lab Sustainability Champions leading the efforts were Angus Pedersen, Killian Gmyrek and Takeshi Kurotori.
Highlighted improvements in lab sustainability included replacing single pass water-cooled condensers with natural convection air-cooled “Findensers”. Recommended by My Green Labs, this change saves an estimated 5,694 cubic meters of water annually in the labs.
Additionally, improved logging of oven usage helped to save 21 MWh of energy and 4.3 tCO2e annually.
The certification process helped us to learn a lot from My Green Lab employees and resources, and each other’s labs. Dr Angus Pederson Project co-lead, Department of Chemical Engineering
Dr Angus Pederson, Lab Sustainability Champion, states: “The certification process helped us to learn a lot from My Green Lab employees and resources, and each other’s lab, on how to improve our lab sustainability and culture. We look forward to continuing our efforts and aiming for Green certification next time.”
Significance of being certified
Being certified allows the lab to understand and evaluate lab practices and put in place greater best practices. This includes communicating efforts in a more standardized way to colleagues. Lab certification is also being required by funding agencies, including Wellcome Trust and Cancer Research UK.
The Department of Chemical Engineering make lab sustainability a top-most priority within their Sustainability Committee. This is to achieve Imperial College London's broader goal to have 100% of its labs certified by a sustainability scheme by 2026.
My Green Lab (MGL)
Recognized by the United Nations Race to Zero campaign as a key measure of progress towards a zero-carbon future, My Green Lab Certification is considered the gold standard for laboratory sustainability best practices around the world.
My Green Lab Certification reduces costs and preserves resources while ensuring a safe, healthy, and fun environment in support of your science.
Imperial as top 10 global university for sustainability
The Department of Chemical Engineering are at the forefront of sustainable initiatives. This is in line with Imperial's broader Science for Humanity strategy where sustainability takes top priority, with a key aim to lead the sector in becoming one of the lowest carbon, zero polluting, low consumption and biodiverse ecosystems within the constraints of our urban environments.
The My Green Lab award is testimony to our efforts to drive Imperial's overarching mission, acknowledged in the recent 2025 QS Sustainability Rankings where Imperial appear as joint second in the UK for commitment to sustainability.
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