My Green Lab Announces Collaboration with AstraZeneca

My Green Lab announced a collaboration with AstraZeneca to implement a global-scale green labs program across their research sites as part of their commitment to sustainability, including protecting the environment.

Over the next six months, My Green Lab will be working with AstraZeneca to certify their R&D labs in Cambridge, UK, Gothenburg, Sweden, Gaithersburg and Boston, US, Alderley Park, UK and South San Francisco, US to the My Green Lab global standard for laboratory sustainability.

“We are excited to be working with AstraZeneca on such a large scale and to see how a program of this size can amplify the impact individual changes can have on improving environmental sustainability,” states Allison Paradise, Founder and CEO of My Green Lab.  My Green Lab developed the first-ever and only standard for laboratory sustainability best practices through their Green Lab Certification program.  Designed for individual labs, the certification program requires scientists to implement energy-saving and water-saving measures, reduce waste, and eliminate the use of hazardous/toxic chemicals from their protocols. Over 400 lab groups comprising thousands of scientists are Green Lab Certified from organizations as diverse as MIT and the University of Alabama, to NUI Galway and Los Alamos National Laboratories.

“In creating a global green labs program, AstraZeneca is not only improving the environmental impact of their R&D operations, they are also changing the culture in the labs, ensuring that every scientist is engaged in environmental sustainability in a meaningful way,” says Rachael Relph, Chief Sustainability Officer at My Green Lab. “With nearly 1,000 scientists already engaged in the program, AstraZeneca is setting a leading example for what a green labs program can look like at a large biopharmaceutical company.”

Penny James, Chief Operating Officer, BioPharmaceuticals R&D at AstraZeneca reflects, “Working with My Green Lab has provided us with a framework and expertise to continuously improve the environmental sustainability of our labs. Our global approach allows us to set standard goals as well as share local good practices across sites so that we can accelerate improvements to our environmental impact.”

More information on the Green Lab Certification can be found on the My Green Lab website.  My Green Lab is a non-profit dedicated to building a culture of sustainability through science.  The organization is widely recognized as a leader in developing nationally-recognized standards for laboratories.