Initiatives and Projects

The Climate@MaxPerutzLabs team has initiated various projects, ranging from analyzing plastic waste to reducing freezer energy consumption. Projects are generally part of a broader collaboration with the Vienna BioCenter Climate group and climate initiatives at other Austrian universities.

Reduce -Reuse -Recycle

Analyzing the use of plastic in the lab

Research labs produce 2% of all the one-way plastics world-wide (Urbina, Nature, 2015). Based on their own analysis and categorization of plastic waste in the lab, Climate@MaxPerutzLab has carried out a pilot project focused on reducing the amount of plastic entering the lab while increasing the percentage that can be recycled. In cooperation with Green Labs Austria and other partners, the Climate@MaxPerutzlabs team is currently looking into solutions to recycle polypropylene (PP), high-density polyethylene (HDPE) and polystyrene (PS).

Calculating the CO₂ footprint

Climate@MaxPerutzLabs used the ClimCalc tool to analyze CO₂ emissions of the institute. This analysis has determined business travel, electricity, and heating/cooling as the three major contributors. The results will be used as the basis for future activities, in addition to collecting more data on the emissions associated with equipment and consumables in order to strategically reduce it.
The ClimCalc tool was developed by experts from the University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences Vienna and the Technical University of Graz as part of the Sustainable Universities Austria initiative.

Climate@MaxPerutzLabs

The Climate@MaxPerutzLabs team has initiated various projects, ranging from analyzing plastic waste to reducing freezer energy consumption. Projects are generally part of a broader collaboration with the Vienna BioCenter Climate group and climate initiatives at other Austrian universities.

Reduce -Reuse -Recycle

Analyzing the use of plastic in the lab

Calculating the CO2 footprint

Decline Accept

Calculating the CO₂ footprint