One lab’s waste is another lab’s treasure. Give and claim lab supplies and equipment through Stanford’s Property Reuse Slack channel or make use of Stanford ReUse, our site for staff and faculty to post and claim Stanford-owned property for free. 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.
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.
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 to 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
Waste Services for Labs
Need additional recycling bins in your lab? Have a unique item in your lab that you’re unsure about recycling?
Stanford has set a new benchmark for sustainability at live events through its first major concert hosted by Stanford Athletics and Stanford Live. Sustainable Stanford hosted a fireside chat with sustainability leadership from Live Nation and Warner Music Group in tandem with this milestone.
From reducing embodied carbon in construction to piloting organic landscape management, the annual Student Sustainability Symposium highlighted how student-led innovation is driving sustainability at Stanford.
Laura Segura Gonzalez, a second-year design student, is leading jean upcycling workshops to combat fast fashion waste, empowering students to transform old jeans into something new.