Single Use Plastic Research

Scientists Tackle Single-Use Plastics in Environmental Research

Scientific laboratories worldwide generate large amounts of plastic waste, particularly from single-use consumable items such as pipette tips. This new research, led by a team investigating over 100 chemical pollutants in water explored the opportunities to use ‘green’ solvent-based washing protocols to safely reuse pipette tips without significantly compromising laboratory result integrity.

The study examined eleven different cleaning solvents for check chemical contamination when reused, and the team identified that multiple washes using ethanol and water could reduce contamination by 98% even when used repeatedly up to 40 times and with dirty sample types such as untreated wastewater.

Dr Helena Rapp Wright, Principal Investigator and MRC Early Career Research Fellow, added: “We need to rethink how everyday lab practices, like reusing pipette tips, can improve sustainable practice. Even the smallest changes can create meaningful impacts for the planet.”

The study also developed a chemical-specific removal profile and a user-friendly calculator to help laboratories estimate solvent wash efficiency and global warming reductions. For example, replacing 20,000 new tips with 500 reused ones using a three-wash ethanol and water protocol could save up to 5 kgCO₂e annually.

Environmental impact of solvent manufacture and waste was a key consideration, especially if these are to realistically drive any reduction of single-use plastics. Life cycle assessment and evaluation of ‘green metrics’ revealed that several common laboratory washing solvents, such as acetonitrile, while offering excellent cleaning efficacy, but their high global warming potential limited their sustainable use. This comprehensive study enabled the first systematic assessment of how to sustainably reuse such plasticware in a more sustainable way than single-use plastic.

Amber Vaughan, Research Technician and lead author, said “Building on our recent successes in environmental research laboratory sustainability, this study provides fundamental evidence to enable individuals to reduce plastic waste and contribute to the conversation between laboratory suppliers and consumers around making greener choices.”

The team recently celebrated a Gold Award under the Laboratory Efficiency Assessment Framework (LEAF) and part of their onward plans was to expand its efforts by competitively securing a Royal Society of Chemistry Sustainable Laboratories Grant for this study.

“This is the first comprehensive study to show that pipette tip reuse through solvent washing is not only feasible but environmentally responsible,” said Professor Leon Barron. “Even for a relatively small research laboratory, scaling up environmental analysis to be sustainable is increasingly requiring us to think carefully about our carbon footprint, as well as the socioeconomic aspects of our work.”

This research marks a significant step toward greener laboratory workflows and offers a scalable model for reducing plastic waste in analytical science.

For more information

Vaughan A. et al. Reuse of consumable pipette tips for large-scale trace analysis of contaminants of emerging concern in wastewater. RSC Sustainability, 2025, doi: 10.1039/d5su00644a

Media Contact:
Laura Ruane
Operations Officer, Environmental Research Group, Imperial College London

Email l.ruane@imperial.ac.uk