Waste Reduction for Labs

Lab Supply Share

Give and claim lab supplies and equipment through Stanford’s Property Reuse Slack channel or make use of Stanford ReUse, our site where Stanford owned property can be posted and claimed for free within the Stanford community. You can contribute to the reuse and sharing economy by posting items throughout the year and making it your first stop before buying something new.

Environmental Health & Safety (EH&S) maintains an inventory of surplus chemicals available to the Stanford research community, free of charge. The Surplus Chemical Program helps researchers improve the environment and save costs by reducing the volume of chemicals purchased and disposed of as waste. Stanford’s Chemical Inventory Management and Tracking System, ChemTracker, ensures good inventory management practices that lead to cost savings by avoiding duplicate purchases.

Refillable Pipette Tip Racks

If reducing the number of tips used is not practical, labs can still reduce plastic waste by reusing the boxes. Many companies offer reusable boxes for pipette tip racks often at a fraction of the cost, and these boxes require half of the plastic to manufacture. Consider ordering refillable tip boxes for your lab to save money and reduce plastic waste.

Waste Sorting in the Lab

For guidance on recycling lab supplies, including batteries, cardboard, containers, pipette tip boxes, plastic film, and unique items, access the Waste Wise Guide.

Waste Audit Toolkit for Labs

Looking to reduce plastic waste in your lab? Follow this step-by-step guide to audit your lab waste and identify sustainable solutions. 

Chemical Waste

Request a pickup from EH&S of chemicals and hazardous waste for proper disposal.

Lab Glove Collection

Lab gloves cannot be recycled in traditional recycling bins on campus. However, if collected separately, uncontaminated and non-hazardous nitrile and latex gloves can be turned into energy. Stanford provides five-gallon buckets for the collection of lab gloves. Separated lab gloves are sent to Ingenium, which converts them into energy. In 2021, Stanford earned an Environmental Impact Achievement award from RightCycle by Kimberly Clark for diverting the most gloves of any university in California. In total, Stanford collected 1,727 pounds of Kimberly Clark gloves in one year!

Acceptable lab gloves include those that: 

• Are not used in a BSL3 lab and not used with a BSL2 agent
• Are not used with acutely toxic materials
• Are not stained with hazardous chemicals and not used to clean up a hazardous chemical spill
• Have not been in contact with radioactive materials

Glove Collection Locations

Building	Room	Building	Room
1070 Arastradero	Room 147	Hoover Tower	Receiving/mail room
Bass Biology	Autoclave room on the basement level	Lane	Second floor corridor, next to room L216
Beckman	In the basement, by the elevator	Lokey Stem Cell (SIM1)	G1113 linear space outside room G1123
Cantor Arts Center	Upper loading dock	Lokey Laboratory	Closet room #243
CCSR	South wing entrance next to the elevator (right outside room 2230)	MSLS	Lobby, next to vending machine
Falk	CV1CIR04 near the lobby, by the PSSI bins and sink	SAPP Center	Outside room 202, next to men’s restroom
Gilbert	Autoclave space room #313	Shriram	Mail room / loading dock, room 140-144
Chem-H	Lobby	Neuroscience	Lobby

Lab Posters to Educate about Waste

Contact us to request printed posters for your lab.