91ÌÒÉ«

This week, 91ÌÒÉ«'s inaugural Sustainable Lab Awards were celebrated. The event recognised strides being taken by those working in labs to reduce waste and energy usage across their operations.

On Wednesday 10 June, 91ÌÒÉ« celebrated its first ever Sustainable Lab Awards.

Convening in the Queen’s Tower Rooms, the event recognised the actions and achievements of individuals and teams towards becoming more sustainable. This included a look at case studies and the presentation of several awards highlighting excellence in different categories.

The case studies highlighted practical ways labs are cutting waste and carbon while maintaining research excellence. One study looked at the ongoing trial of a soft plastic recycling scheme, where non-contaminated items like dry ice bags are being turned into new black bin bags. Another explored ‘Cooling Without Waste,’ an initiative which has saved an estimated 80,000 litres of water per year by replacing traditional water cooled condensers with 90 air condensers.

Initiatives in the Department of Chemical Engineering showed how they are redesigning teaching labs around sustainability, using digital replicas to reduce resource intensive experiments and vertically integrating projects so that a single equipment set up can test multiple objectives. A further case study explored how “single use” plastics such as pipette tips can be safely cleaned and reused, with early results showing potential to cut plastic waste and associated carbon emissions.

Following the case studies, several awards were given out to individuals and teams performing outstandingly in relation to their sustainability activities.

Sustainable Lab Awards 2026: And the winners are...

Four awards were presented at the event, selected by a panel comprising Lisa Haigh, Stav Friedman and Zuzanna Rydz.

Circular Economy Champion Award: For outstanding reuse, donation, or resale of laboratory equipment or materials.

Winners: Oscar Sanderson and Malgorzata Puchnarewicz
Oscar and Malgorzata were recognised for establishing a systematic approach to reusing and redistributing surplus lab equipment and consumables within their department, ensuring items are shared, repurposed or donated rather than sent to waste.

Green Chemistry Gamechanger Award: For impactful switches to safer and more sustainable chemicals or processes.

Winner: Fatema Khatun
Fatema received the award for leading a series of changes to experimental protocols that replaced hazardous reagents with greener alternatives and reduced solvent use, while maintaining or improving research outputs.

Single Use Plastic Reduction Award: For initiatives to reduce disposable plastic in the lab.

Winners: Helena Rapp Wright and Amber Vaughan
Helena and Amber were celebrated for their work on evaluating the reuse of “single use” plastic consumables in an environmental monitoring lab, including developing washing, testing and life cycle assessment methods to demonstrate when reuse is safe and beneficial.

Communication & Engagement Award: For exceptional communication and sustainability engagement within the lab.

Winner: Umang Vinubhai Shah

Umang was recognized for championing sustainable lab practices within Chemical Engineering, from co designing projects with students to creating resources and activities that embed sustainability into day to day teaching and research.

Other nominees we’d like to credit for their efforts include: Nadia Khan, Dominic Smith, Silvia Diez-Gonzalez, Isha Bade, Farheen Fatina Khan, Elizabeth McCormack, Edina Forman, Zuzanna Rydz.

The event concluded with networking and lunch, giving colleagues from across 91ÌÒÉ« the chance to share ideas and discuss how to take sustainable lab practice even further.