It’s no secret that laboratories produce a lot of waste. In fact, it's estimated that every year the plastic waste alone from labs could cover an area 23x the size of Manhattan ankle deep. And while much of this waste is hazardous, a lot of it isn't - anything that can be thrown in the trash has the potential to have a different end of life.
Solutions to the world's biggest problems, including climate change and the coronavirus pandemic, are studied in research laboratories across the globe. But as sterile as those labs may appear, they have a dirty secret: immense carbon footprints.
