Achieving “green” lab certification status
In June 2022, the Agilent Center of Excellence (CoE) customer demonstration laboratory in Waldbronn, Germany received the highest level of My Green Lab Certification, which is considered the gold standard in laboratory sustainability best practices.
The My Green Lab Certification—a program introduced by My Green Lab—is recognized by the UN Race to Zero campaign as a key measure of progress for pharmaceutical and medical technology companies toward a zero-carbon future. The certification indicates that a lab has achieved strong sustainability practices in energy use, water consumption, recycling, and waste production, with features such as optimized ventilation and energy-efficient cold storage to efficient plug load configuration and digitized processes.
Teamwork as the foundation to improving sustainability at Agilent
The Agilent Waldbronn “green” certification began with an initial assessment of the current sustainability practices in our CoE customer demo lab. Our team of dedicated application scientists and engineers—who showcase an array of Agilent liquid/gas chromatography (LC/GC), mass spectrometry (MS), and spectroscopy instrumentation and workflow solutions to customers—completed a survey containing 130 questions from 14 different categories such as cold storage, water use, etc.
Once the assessment scores were returned, our team focused on improving practices in three areas: infrastructure energy, recycling and waste production, and plug load. Approximately six months later, the team reviewed the planned and already-started initiatives to improve lab sustainability. In the second My Green Lab assessment, our sustainability score increased substantially because of these new initiatives, leading to certification with the highest ranking—green.
This milestone achievement is truly a One Agilent holistic effort and demonstrates our dedication to reducing our environmental footprint and going greener with our lab operations. Teamwork was a key factor in our success, as the individuals who were involved in the My Green Lab Certification process work across different product lines and divisions throughout the company. This is the first Agilent lab to receive “green” certification status, and we hope to be an inspiration for other global labs to follow.
Supporting our customers’ sustainability journey
Going through the My Green Lab Certification process was invaluable for our application scientists. As an organization, we understand that sustainability is a topic close to the hearts of our customers. That’s why we are committed to showing customers who visit the Waldbronn CoE demo lab that Agilent is a partner who can provide trusted answers to their laboratory workflow challenges, while helping them achieve their own sustainability goals.
Sealing Agilent’s commitment to sustainability
Our journey to become more sustainable doesn’t stop now that we have achieved a “green” My Green Lab Certification status. Internal activities are still ongoing. Our aim is to recertify after 24 months to ensure consistency with Agilent’s high standards for sustainability and see if we can go even greener!
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