Laboratory's carbon footprint: Part 1

And whilst safety and quality will always be critical priorities, environmental sustainability is rapidly moving up the agenda in response to investors, staff and customers. The number of companies with approved science-based targets rose from 7 in 2019 to 104 in 2022; typically companies are aiming to achieve net zero carbon between 2035 and 2050.

Scope 3 emissions represent, by far, the greatest share of a laboratory’s carbon footprint and therefore demand attention beyond merely being measured. These are the indirect emissions that occur across the value chain, from the manufacture of acetone to the end-of-life disposal of medical packaging Carbon hotspots.

The triple helix of universities, government and industry has enabled the UK to develop into a life science superpower. However, the carbon footprint of the many wet and dry laboratories that have facilitated this growth is substantial (the pharmaceutical business is significantly more emission-intensive than the car industry)

There is an urgent need to implement scalable technical solutions and drive radical cultural and behavioural change. On the face of it, the life science sector faces a conundrum: how to balance ambitious decarbonisation goals with financial realities of the large capital investments required to do so. However, McKinsey’s analysis of a representative pharmaceutical company’s emissions profile reveals promising findings; they believe 60% of total emissions can be abated at net-zero cost.