_______________________________________
From: Anders Kallner [[log in to unmask]]
Sent: 16 December 2009 16:12
To: Richard Jones [Pathology]
Subject: Re: Green Laboratories - Summary and Actions
Dear Rick,
A message just in time considering the movements and meetings in
Copenhagen!
Myself is hiding from the roaring snowstorm in Stockholm which might
be a chilling backdrop to the entire field. However, another of my
hats is as an elected member of the IUPAC Bureau and Excecutive Board.
The IUPAC has for many years had a Subcommittee on Green chemistry, I
am sorry to say that it has been dormant the last couple of years.
Being an IUPAC issue it used to focus on production, particularly in
developing countries and they published a couple of books. It might be
of mutual interest to revive the Subcomittee and interntionalize the
topic. It is serious business. You can find their homepage under
Division III, www.IUPAC.org.
With my best regards,
Anders Kallner
----- Original Message -----
From: "Richard Jones [Pathology]" <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Wednesday, December 16, 2009 4:26 pm
Subject: Green Laboratories - Summary and Actions
To: [log in to unmask]
> I've collated below the responses I've received. Not as many as I
> expected but, as is usual from this list, high quality and
> humorous as well.
>
> The most interesting response was from Neil Squires
> [log in to unmask] Scotland (see below) who has been
> taking a lead through liaison with the Campaign for Greener
> Healthcare. Following a few emails we have set up a Green Campaign
> page on www.laboratorymedicine.nhs.uk to draw togther and share
> Neil's insights to date and findings. Neil has kindly agreed to
> edit the Green pages for now so if you have suggestions / links
> you post them on the site or directly to Neil.
>
> The other big idea comes from Martin Myers - actually metering the
> Lab and setting a 15% reduction target. If this works then maybe
> we should all follow suit.
>
> I particularly liked this - "PS: Should we measure carbon
> reductions as % saving or as mol . . ."
>
> Best wishes
>
> Rick
>
> --------------------------
> Neil
>
> I've been liaising with the Campaign for Greener Healthcare for
> approximately 6 months now. They were very keen to have labs on board
> and are in contact with Ian Barnes and the RCP who are both very
> supportive. I'm also aware that the lab in Truro has implemented lean
> process management with an environmental emphasis and has made
> significant energy and financial savings, so you might be
> interested in
> contacting them.
>
> I've been attempting some kind of literature review on greening
> clinicalbiochemistry labs, but I've found very little. There are
> papers on green
> chemistry and on green issues in the NHS in general, but none in
> biochemistry. I would be grateful if you could share any responses
you
> get from your post with me.
>
> Here is a link you may be interested in:
> http://www.2degreesnetwork.com/collaborate/networks/greener-
> healthcare/They already have lots of industry contact, although
> it's a new
> initiative so it's still quite empty.
>
> -----------------------------------------
> Martin Myers
>
> I am monitoring the power output from path, converting that to co2
> equiv. In jan I am announcing a 15 percent reduction target in co2
> output by 6 months. This can be done by power consciousness eg
> turningoff computers, incubators equipment etc. We did this over
> a weekend
> when we changed our board. Laziness is stopping us now. Therefore
> conversion to co2 with targets will focus minds and I will make the
> target one of our KPIs
>
> -----------------------------------------------------------
> Other comments
>
> I've been interested in this for some time. Is dry-chemistry better
> than wet in terms of energy consumption?
>
> -----------------------------------------------------------
>
> The bins to collect the plastic consumables from our Roche
> analysers are
> right outside my office door. I am horrified by the amount of
> plastic we
> dispose of everyday. Perhaps an initiative with the diagnostic
> companiesaround designing consumables for return and re-use might
> be a cunning
> plan.
>
> -----------------------------------------------------------
>
> Does our UK NEQAS centre going paper-free count? Only works
> properly if
> our participants don't print out the full report - but we've saved
the
> cost of transporting reports at least.
>
> ----------------------------------------
>
> > Haven't found any others in the archive
>
> I'm sure there was a discussion sometime during 2008 or 2009, perhaps
> from Coventry? - the keyword may have been 'sustainability' rather
> than'green', but no doubt those involved will tell you!
>
> > We must have a massive carbon footprint and surely could do a
> lot to
> reduce it and probably save a fair bit in the process.
>
> Agree fully, but it is an extremely complex calculation. For example:
>
> - the economics arguments can be very easily 'spun' based on vested
> interests, mirroring the current discussions over POCT v lab assays.
> Someone needs to ensure that apples are not compared with oranges,
> eg even assuming electronic results transmission POCT appears to
> save carbon-miles for both patients & specimens, but this must be
> balanced against the instrument & reagent/cassette footprints as
> well as
> operator issues (I seem to recall you suggesting that 'shed labs'
> couldbe 'dark factories' whereas the nurses needed to see what
> they were
> doing)
>
> - labs and others may be constrained by their parent Trust's and/or
> landlord's requirements (I noticed last month that the A4 paper we
> automatically get is manufactured in S Africa, and our FotE
> activist had
> to restrain herself from screaming . . .)
>
> - we'd love to recycle the considerable amount of paper & cardboard
> we (and other tenants) generate, but neither the Trust nor University
> will arrange anything as we're off-site (for them) in the Research
> Park, and
> the landlord can't the Council to provide the same service they
demand
> that householders use. At least Birmingham has an incinerator system
> so at least it shouldn't go to landfill)
>
>
> Rick Jones
>
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Please note, archived messages are public and can be viewed
via the internet. Views expressed are those of the individual and
they are responsible for all message content.
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