{"id":37878,"date":"2023-11-21T12:47:00","date_gmt":"2023-11-21T20:47:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mygreenlab.org\/?p=37878"},"modified":"2025-08-04T17:19:32","modified_gmt":"2025-08-05T00:19:32","slug":"how-my-green-labs-act-eco-label-program-is-transforming-laboratory-products-and-purchasing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mygreenlab.org\/fr\/the-beaker-blog\/how-my-green-labs-act-eco-label-program-is-transforming-laboratory-products-and-purchasing\/","title":{"rendered":"How My Green Lab\u2019s ACT Eco Label Program is Transforming Laboratory Products and Purchasing"},"content":{"rendered":"\n \n \n

As most scientists and lab experts would agree, laboratories demand substantial resources and have a considerable ecological footprint. To put it in perspective, labs generate an astonishing 12 billion pounds (5.5 billion kg) of plastic waste annually and consume ten times the energy and four times the water compared to typical office spaces. Amidst this impact, there is a pressing need for innovative solutions to mitigate the environmental consequences. The products used in laboratories greatly contribute to this environmental impact, emphasizing the urgency for sustainable alternatives in lab practices and materials.<\/span><\/p>\n

In an effort to improve their environmental footprint, scientists and procurement specialists are actively seeking a solution to support making smarter and more sustainable purchases, achieve their environmental goals, and meet carbon commitments. The Solution:\u00a0The ACT Environmental Impact Factor Label.<\/span><\/p>\n

To transform sustainability in the laboratory product market, the groundbreaking ACT Eco Label Program from My Green Lab provides third-party verified information about the environmental impact of laboratory products. This independent analysis supports product\u00a0Accountability,\u00a0Consistency, and\u00a0Transparency\u00a0(ACT), allowing manufacturers to effectively communicate the sustainability attributes and impacts of their products and support smarter, more informed purchases by laboratories.<\/span><\/p>\n

With an ACT Eco Label, manufacturers demonstrate\u00a0accountability\u00a0for the environmental impact of their product and their dedication to reducing that impact. An ACT-labeled product also demonstrates a manufacturer’s willingness to evaluate products with a\u00a0consistent, industry-standardized method, and to\u00a0transparently\u00a0provide details of the product\u2019s materials, manufacturing process, recyclability, energy and water consumption, durability, and manufacturing location. The ACT Eco Label clearly and effectively simplifies the process of selecting more sustainable products.<\/span><\/p>\n

The ACT Eco Label Evaluation Categories\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

To provide in-depth, verified, and useful information, the ACT Eco Label Program evaluation process looks at all aspects of a product\u2019s life cycle, measuring a variety of criteria that results in the most comprehensive eco label for life science products.<\/span><\/p>\n

Like a Nutrition Facts Label for laboratory products, the ACT Eco Label communicates the complex environmental impact information for a product in an easy-to-understand format. Criteria for the ACT Eco Label were developed by industry experts including scientists, sustainability experts, procurement specialists, and manufacturers. Environmental Impact Factor (EIF) criteria in the ACT Eco Label fall into a variety of categories that are evaluated during the auditing process, including:<\/span><\/p>\n

1. The Manufacturing Categories<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 Some examples of criteria assessed in these categories include how the factory uses energy, uses water, and reduces waste, whether there are appropriate environmental management systems in place, and if the factory is using fossil fuel-based energy or energy from renewable sources.<\/span><\/p>\n

2. The Product and Packaging Content Subcategories<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 Examples of information assessed in these criteria include the material content of the product and the type of packaging the product uses. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

3. The User Impact Categories<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Examples of criteria assessed in these categories include if and how much energy and water the product uses per day, if the product is single-use or multi-use, and the expected lifetime of the product.<\/span><\/p>\n

4. The End-of-Life Categories<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Examples of criteria assessed in this category include if the product will end up in a landfill or materials can be recycled, and if the manufacturer supports recycling or second-life uses. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u200bEach of the impact factors described here contributes to the environmental footprint of the product. By auditing and evaluating these product attributes to the ACT Eco Label Standard, My Green Lab helps manufacturers consider, measure, and drive continuous improvement in these factors, resulting in companies providing more sustainable products for laboratories.<\/span><\/p>\n

Independent auditor\u00a0SMS Collaborative\u00a0(SMSC) has extensive experience evaluating products to the ACT Eco Label Standard, a process that provides clear, third-party verified information about the environmental impact of laboratory products.<\/span><\/p>\n\n <\/sc-rich-text>\n <\/sc-container>\n\n\n\n\n\n \n \n \t \"Example<\/picture>\n \n The ACT Ecolabel summarizes environmental performance across impact categories, supporting purchasing decisions and showcasing sustainability.\n <\/sc-rich-text>\n <\/sc-image>\n<\/sc-container>\n\n\n\n \n \n

The ACT Eco Label\u2019s Impact on the Laboratory Product Market<\/span><\/h3>\n

The ACT Eco Label Program incentivizes manufacturers to present information about their products in a transparent way, and to highlight innovations in sustainability. All ACT-labeled products are categorized by general product type (Consumables, Equipment, and Chemicals & Reagents) on the ACT Eco Label\u00a0database, which is fully searchable and filterable. It allows laboratories to compare products before purchasing, and to evaluate the impact of products currently in use, by assessing the product scores overall and in each EIF category. The database can also be integrated into procurement databases, helping drive the adoption of more environmentally-friendly lab products at the point of purchase. For example, ACT Eco Labels are now fully searchable on the\u00a0CiteAb reagent search engine, and are used by the Fisher Scientific database to identify greener products.<\/span><\/p>\n

The impact that the ACT Eco Label program has on transparency in the lab product market is wide-ranging, with over 1,000 products in the\u00a0ACT Eco Label database\u00a0from 24 large and small manufacturers (as of November 2023). \u201cThe growth of the program highlights how important transparency is in the marketplace. As the market seeks to become more engaged when it comes to product sustainability, and lab sustainability as a whole, laboratories are helping drive the need for programs like ACT by encouraging more sustainable, third-party verified products from their suppliers,\u201d says Raj Patey, My Green Lab\u2019s Business Development Director.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe program\u2019s growth is not only resulting in more transparency in the market, but also in genuine product improvement. For example, some manufacturers are learning from the product audit process and subsequently making changes to their product\u2019s packaging or manufacturing in ways they otherwise wouldn’t have done without the guidance of the ACT Eco Label Program,\u201d Patey noted.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

ACT in Action<\/span><\/h3>\n

Demonstrating the industry\u2019s united effort towards driving more sustainable practices, My Green Lab has partnered and worked with a variety of organizations that support the ACT Eco Label Program, including companies that label their products, and groups that use the database to find sustainable product solutions for their lab.<\/span><\/p>\n

Thermo Fisher Scientific has one of the largest ACT-labeled product portfolios, with a wide variety of products, from Ultra-Low Temperature (ULT) freezers to beakers and cylinders. \u201cACT-labeling our portfolio helped us understand the myriad ways our products can help our customers achieve their sustainability goals. Plus, we can point customers to the ACT Eco Label database for scores and provide helpful insights to how the scores were generated \u2013 both of which will allow customers to make informed decisions when purchasing equipment,\u201d Thermo Fisher Scientific\u00a0told<\/a>\u00a0My Green Lab.<\/p>\n

B\u00fcrkle GmbH recently introduced ACT Eco Labels for their LaboPlast\u00ae Bio and SteriPlast\u00ae Bio disposable samplers, featuring sugarcane-based bioplastic. \u201cThe T in the ACT\u00a0[Eco]\u00a0Label stands for Transparency. Transparency is a fundamental value that guides our every step. We believe that openness fosters understanding, and understanding builds trust,\u201d B\u00fcrkle GmbH posted recently on\u00a0LinkedIn<\/a>. \u201cTo ensure more transparency, we have decided to have our products certified with the ACT [Eco] Label. Transparency isn’t always about showcasing perfection; it’s about admitting when we’re learning, evolving, or finding new ways.\u201d<\/p>\n

Eppendorf has been in partnership with My Green Lab since 2017 and has a wide variety of products in the ACT Eco Label database, including the first centrifuge on the market to achieve sustainability recognition through the ACT Eco Label Program. \u201cThe ACT Program is\u2026 the only global program for laboratory equipment which addresses sustainability aspects and product life aspects. In 2017, we were just a very small group of suppliers supporting My Green Lab. Today, most of the bigger suppliers of lab equipment participate and label products by ACT. On the customer side, many pharma accounts are asking for ACT-labeled products, and also academic accounts are interested,\u201d Eppendorf recently\u00a0told<\/a>\u00a0BioProcess International.<\/p>\n\n <\/sc-rich-text>\n <\/sc-container>\n\n\n\n\n\n \n \n \t \"Labcon<\/picture>\n \n Labcon has over 600 ACT Eco Label-certified laboratory products offered in the US, EU, and UK. Labcon also received industry-leading ACT Eco Label scores and currently holds the lowest Environmental Impact Factor (EIF) score of all the ACT Eco Label-evaluated consumables worldwide.\n <\/sc-rich-text>\n <\/sc-image>\n<\/sc-container>\n\n\n\n \n \n

Better Products for a Better Future<\/span><\/h3>\n

My Green Lab\u2019s work reaches a global audience through education and collaboration with laboratories that want to bring sustainability to science. The ACT Eco Label is one part of a community working to drive real change within laboratories.<\/p>\n

Through programs such as\u00a0My Green Lab Certification<\/a>\u00a0and the\u00a0Ambassador Program<\/a>, the My Green Lab team continues to engage closely with laboratory communities. This work with scientists and lab professionals has illuminated a compelling need for clear, standardized information about laboratory products. It is well-recognized that a significant part of the\u00a0carbon impact<\/a>\u00a0from a lab originates from the lab products they purchase and use. At its core, the ACT Eco Label program empowers scientists and procurement specialists to make well-informed decisions with sustainability goals top of mind.<\/p>\n

The ACT Eco Label Program began as a consensus-based effort between manufacturers, procurement, sustainability professionals, and scientists who were deeply committed to improving the trajectory of sustainability in science. My Green Lab is now engaging with\u00a0stakeholders throughout academia, sustainability, biotech, and pharma\u00a0to\u00a0guide revisions<\/a>\u00a0in the ACT Eco Label Program. This process will\u00a0further support\u00a0the uptake of the program across\u00a0the entire industry, incorporate more product data for customer\u00a0and manufacturer\u00a0awareness,\u00a0and continue to\u00a0make choosing preferred lab products easier\u00a0while updating the functionality of the database. As our process improves, we passionately believe that starting your sustainability journey with the ACT Eco Label not only steers you towards enhanced customer engagement and reduced product impact over time, but also contributes to creating a better future.<\/p>\n\n <\/sc-rich-text>\n <\/sc-container>\n\n\n\n\n \n \n\n \n

Learn more about the only third-party verified ecolabel for lab products<\/h2>\n <\/sc-rich-text>\n\n \n Interested in the ACT Ecolabel?\n <\/sc-rich-text> \n ACT Ecolabel\n <\/sc-button> <\/sc-cta-inline>\n\n<\/sc-container>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As most scientists and lab experts would agree, laboratories demand substantial resources and have a considerable ecological footprint. To put it in perspective, labs generate an astonishing 12 billion pounds (5.5 billion kg) of plastic waste annually and consume ten times the energy and four times the water compared to typical office spaces.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":36697,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"How My Green Lab\u2019s ACT Eco Label Program is Transforming Laboratory Products and Purchasing","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","footnotes":""},"category":[114],"topics":[110],"programs":[98],"lab_types":[107,106,156,157,158],"class_list":["post-37878","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tips","topics-purchasing","programs-act-ecolabel","lab_types-academic","lab_types-biotech-pharma","lab_types-clinical","lab_types-contract","lab_types-government"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mygreenlab.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37878","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mygreenlab.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mygreenlab.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mygreenlab.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mygreenlab.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37878"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mygreenlab.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37878\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":37883,"href":"https:\/\/mygreenlab.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37878\/revisions\/37883"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mygreenlab.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36697"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mygreenlab.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37878"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mygreenlab.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/category?post=37878"},{"taxonomy":"topics","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mygreenlab.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/topics?post=37878"},{"taxonomy":"programs","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mygreenlab.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/programs?post=37878"},{"taxonomy":"lab_types","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mygreenlab.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/lab_types?post=37878"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}