If you work in a McGill laboratory and have been frustrated by the lack of recycling options for non-hazardous waste, there’s good news.
Thanks to a multi-disciplinary team and financial support from the Sustainability Projects Fund, McGill is expanding the number of lab items accepted for recycling and compost.
It now accepts such items as nitrile gloves, tip boxes and pipette tips for recycling, as long as they were not in contact with hazardous waste.
Combined with other non-hazardous recyclable and compostable items – such as glass tubes, paper towels and wipes – approximately 45 per cent of McGill’s non-hazardous waste items from labs can be diverted from landfills, representing approximately 30 tonnes of waste per year.
“The sheer volume of McGill’s lab waste and feedback from its lab community indicated an urgent need for campus‐wide infrastructure and operations to manage lab waste,” said Kimberly John, Sustainability Officer in the McGill Office of Sustainability and project lead. “Our lab community has been calling for better lab waste procedures, and McGill is responding to these calls.”
Zero-waste future
The new recycling and composting opportunities are reflected in newly issued guidelines. The changes, which were two years in the making, affect 16,000 users of over 800 wet labs.
It was a team effort: Lab users were surveyed, students enrolled in ENVR 410: Environmental Research conducted a waste audit, Procurement Services and Buildings and Grounds negotiated with local recycling services to get them to collect non-hazardous lab items, Hazardous Waste Management contributed to writing the new guidelines and the Graphic Design studio produced posters and labels available for download.
“Buildings and Grounds is proud to have played a leading role in this important initiative, working in close partnership with the McGill Office of Sustainability and lab stakeholders,” said George Lazaris, Director of Building Services. “Our team has been deeply involved in developing and operationalizing the new lab waste processes, from early planning to hands-on implementation. These new procedures mark a significant step forward in supporting McGill’s sustainability goals, and we encourage all lab users to help make them a success.”
The new laboratory guidelines align with McGill’s 2025-30 Climate & Sustainability Strategy, which outlines commitments to introduce lab-specific waste-sorting stations, strengthen waste-sorting education and become a zero-waste university by 2035.
McGill’s service providers are obliged to periodically reveal the destinations of the collected materials.
“Many of these plastics are highly recyclable,” said John. “Once they are sorted properly, there’s a high probability they will be reconstituted into other items.”
Have an idea on how to build a culture of sustainability on McGill campuses? Kickstart it with the Sustainability Projects Fund.