Author: Dr Tom Congdon, CEO of CryoLogyx  

Single-use plastics, such as pipette tips, that have been used for only a few seconds in a laboratory can last centuries in the natural environment. Many types can be recycled, and there are now hundreds of products designed to be compostable in landfills, while still giving the customer all the benefits they are used to with conventional plastics. However, these products are being adopted for food packaging, with only a few examples available for laboratory use.

There is a strong case for us to take a closer look at our plastic waste. A study in Nature estimated that for institutes and SMEs, each bench scientist generates around a tonne of plastic waste per year (1). In 2014 around 5.5 million tonnes of lab plastic waste were generated globally. That is equivalent to the combined tonnage of sixty-seven cruise liners; equal to 83% of the plastic recycled worldwide in 2012.

By using our assay-ready pre-plated cells, we can help you significantly reduce the volume of plastic your lab generates. To prepare just five plates of cells for an experiment, we estimate that bench scientists use and throw away a minimum of thirty-seven different pieces of single-use plastic. At CryoLogyx, our products use the same single-use plastic everyone else is using, because right now it is vital for working with non-interfering and sterile materials. However, if you used our assay-ready plates, you would only need to use six pieces of single use plastic - five of those being the assay-ready multiwell plates, and one pipette tip to add warm media to thaw the cells. That equates to an 86% reduction in single-use plastic waste in your lab. 

Our assay-ready, cryopreserved, pre-plated cells come in polystyrene multiwell plates because they are robust, sterile, long lasting and fit seamlessly into our customers’ workflows. And since our plated cells can be stored frozen and used on demand, they can help reduce the time-to-experiment from several days to less than 24 hours. We do the cell culture for you, so you don’t have to.

Visit www.cryologyx.com for more information or email us directly at info@cryologyx.com to get in touch. 

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References:

1. Urbina, M., Watts, A. & Reardon, E. Labs should cut plastic waste too. Nature 528, 479 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/528479c