Sustainability at Full Circle Labs
One of our core values at Full Circle Labs is social and environmental responsibility. As a service provider, unlike other primary research labs, we often perform the same protocols everyday. Repeating the same tasks day in and day out:
- Gives us an acute appreciation of the amount of waste wet labs can produce
- Allows us to refine our process with sustainability in mind
We've detailed a few of our current efforts to reduce our operational environmental impact below. As a small-scale and rapidly growing startup we're always learning and looking for ways to improve, please get in touch if you have suggestions, ideas or feedback on how we can further enhance our sustainability efforts.
Processes adopted by FCL
- Low Carbon Couriers
- We actively look for low carbon and carbon neutral couriers to help us reduce our carbon footprint. Currently we work with The Delivery Group, a specialised logistics company that uses route optimisation and carbon offsetting to ensure their fleet is carbon neutral. Our London orders are collected by motorcycle courier in reusable Re-Zip packaging.
- Packaging & Glove Recycling Programs
- FCL receives a huge amount of plastic and other packaging materials with every order. In fact, the plastic we receive from order packaging is far greater than the plastic we use in the lab for sequencing runs. We recycle all compatible packaging and plasticware we receive through Recycle Labs. Additionally, we have recently implemented a glove recycling program through KimTech to further reduce plastic waste in our labs, ensuring our gloves are properly recycled instead of being sent to landfills for disposal.
- Supplier monitoring & ACT certified consumables
- We are taking active steps to ensure our supplies are as environmentally friendly as possible. This includes sourcing reagents from local and certified environmentally responsible suppliers such as New England Biolabs, which is a certified B Corporation with comprehensive environmental stewardship practices. Where possible, we’ve switched to consumables that are Accountability, Consistency, and Transparency (ACT) certified by My Green Lab, or have otherwise worked to reduce the amount of plastic waste generated through our lab work. For example, we use Arvensis biocomposite PCR plates, made from plant biomass to reduce our plastic output.
- 1% for the Planet
- We’ve recently joined the 1% for the Planet program, under which we have committed to donating 1% of FCL’s annual revenue directly to vetted environmental organisations. These organisations are screened by 1% for the Planet to ensure their work benefits people and the environment across a range of different impact areas, including community and biodiversity conservation and restoration, development of climate resilience, and responsible and sustainable consumption and production.
- Sustainable Pension Providers
- All full time FCL employees are enrolled onto Smart Pension's pension scheme. Smart Pension's default fund focuses on investing in companies with strong environmental, social and governance practices.
Looking ahead
While these efforts demonstrate our commitment to environmental sustainability, we remain dedicated to continuous improvement. Within the year we are planning to implement reusable packaging for customers to send their samples and are looking into expanding our recycling efforts to include lab-specific items such as pipette tips and other currently non-recycled plastics. We are in the early stages of Full Circle Lab’s journey, there are many processes and systems we’re actively developing, and we intend to place environmental stewardship as a core pillar of our business.
