“The certification process gave us a great opportunity to develop in areas we had not previously considered. In addition, the program provided the ideal foundation to create a sustainability team within our R&D. I was impressed by how committed everyone was to achieve a common goal”, declares Dr. Mona Al-Maarri, Sustainability Manager at BioEcho.
The program covers fourteen topics including energy, water, waste, chemistry/materials, and engagement. It provides both scientists and the teams that support laboratories with actionable strategies to make real and impactful environmental changes. “To save energy with laboratory equipment, for instance, we introduced a color code system, so that everyone working in the lab can easily identify if an instrument can be turned off after each use, only overnight, or not at all”, Mona Al-Maarri adds. “BioEcho was founded on the principles of ecological responsibility. The fact that we achieved the highest level of certification is another milestone and a proof that we are on the right track.”
The company's green mission is to progress molecular biology towards sustainability as well as to become as environmentally friendly as possible itself. How does the BioEcho achieve both objectives? First, the EchoLUTION technology drastically reduces the amount of plastic waste and hazardous reagents produced during nucleic acid extraction. Second, the company sees sustainability as a holistic approach and every department contributes to an environmentally friendly business.