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Grenova Pipette TipCycle Initiative


Grenova Pipette TipCycle Initiative

sust-pipettes

The problem: Labs produce 12 billion pounds of plastic every year! Production of lab plastics, including pipette tips, is unsustainable. For example: the production of 960 pipette tips releases 1.75 kg to 5 kg of CO2 and uses 89 L of water, whereas washing 960 tips only produces 0.5 kg of CO2, and consumes 25 L of water. We estimate a single laboratory at Caltech can produce 36,000 pipette tips in a year and can cost from $8,300-$22,000 per year for a single lab! Furthermore, we have all recently seen the consequences of supply chain fluctuations and delays in sourcing, despite the fact that tips are made of polypropylene, a durable material that can be washed and reused. As such, Caltech Green Labs aims to tackle this issue by exploring tip washing further.

tipnovus

Grenova's pipette tip washer enables the washing and reuse of multiple pipette tip racks per cycle; compatible with both manual and automated workflows. These tip washers utilize reagents, flushes, UV light exposure, soaking, sonication, and mechanical tip agitation to clean pipette tips. Multiple universities have validated and incorporated these tip washers into their daily workflows, and have realized a savings cost of 90% through reuse of their pipette tips. Labs typically reuse pipette tips 10-20x, but there is potential for even more reuse. Grenova has worked to measure the carbon footprint of their machines, quantify waste reduction, and assess water conservation to ensure that they are meeting their sustainability goals.

Our plan: The Caltech Tip Cycle Program pilot project would have three main aims: 1) validating the utility of the Grenova tip washer for use with the Beacon instrument; 2) determining the data required to encourage long-term behavioural changes that will integrate sustainable habits, including pipette tip washing, into laboratory workflows; 3) validating the tip washer with other laboratory workflows as the tip washing program expands, potentially into a recharge center.

If you are interested in helping us test the technology here at Caltech, or if you think your lab would be interested in helping to purchase one (your lab would then receive a free or discounted service once the machine is installed), please fill out this form.

Multiple universities have verified the technology, and typically get 10-20 uses out of each box of tips that are washed. If you'd like to see a lunch and learn presentation from December or validation studies, please see the items in this box folder (just sign in using your Caltech access login information).


Do you have a pilot project you would like us to pursue?

Fill out the form below or fill out an application form. (Submissions officially open in June 2023.)