How UCB engaged its scientists and transformed laboratory operations to advance the company’s climate Net-Zero emissions ambition.
Environmental commitments can only be achieved if each colleague takes action, every day, in their daily work. No matter the position or function, everyone has a role to play. At UCB, translating that conviction into reality across a network of laboratories required engaging scientists in their daily routines, standardizing and sharing best practices across very different lab environments, and connecting individual actions to UCB’s corporate climate Net-Zero emissions target of 90% emissions reduction by 2045. Adoption of sustainable behaviors across all entities of the organization is a core challenge.
environmental sustainability into daily laboratory work
and sharing best practices across operations
laboratory activities to corporate Net-Zero commitments
How the Program Enabled Results
UCB’s My Green Lab journey began in 2022 with 15 laboratories certified under the original certification framework. In 2025, UCB transitioned to My Green Lab Certification 2.0, an updated framework with robust impact measurement capabilities, with five R&D labs in Belgium and United Kingdom serving as pilots. Around 12 additional labs are now in the pipeline, and the original 15 will rejoin under the new framework.
The certification brought focus and shared purpose to environmental sustainability work within R&D teams and the broader organization. It helped UCB identify priorities through the survey and assessment tools, and the impact factor tool gave teams a way to measure progress in waste, electricity, chemicals, and water usage.
Daily behaviors began to shift and continue to evolve. Building vacuum pumps were converted from open to closed water circuits, significantly reducing water consumption, and LED lighting with sensor controls rolled out across laboratories. Teams also adopted smaller daily practices more consistently like shutting down equipment where possible when leaving, recycling electronics, sharing documents via links, and closing fume hood sashes. These early wins built momentum for an ongoing journey, with additional improvement actions and sustainability topics planned into 2026 and beyond.
UCB is also a member of Converge, an initiative that extends UCB’s My Green Lab approach beyond our own laboratories, helping our labsʼ suppliers adopt the same sustainability standards and contribute to shared environmental goals. As an early adopter of My Green Lab Certification 2.0, UCB is helping validate the new framework for the life sciences industry.
Annual Cost Savings
Liters of water saved annually
Reduced annually
Environmental Impact
The five certified labs achieved significant reductions across water, energy, and chemical consumption. Major contributors included the conversion of building vacuum pumps from open to closed water circuits, the adoption of air-cooled condensers, LED lighting upgrades, and reductions in solvent use through process optimization in chromatography and parallel synthesis.
Financial Impact
My Green Lab Certification 2.0 delivered substantial annual cost savings of at least $116,000 on an initial program investment of $25,000, representing a 4.6x return on investment through reduced resource consumption and operational efficiency.
Outcomes & Business Value
Engagement was a defining outcome. UCB achieved a 100% response rate to the certification questionnaire and strong workshop attendance on green chemistry, IT and computing, and waste management. Lab leads connected directly with scientists, and stickers on equipment (“shut the sash,” “shut down when not in use”) reinforced daily behaviors. The lab working group that emerged now drives future engagement and actions for the department. The program fostered cultural change and new ways of working that balance scientific delivery with sustainability.
At UCB sustainability performance is core to our business and we recognize that our environmental commitments can only be achieved if each one of us takes action, every day, in our daily work. My Green Lab Certification gives our laboratory teams the framework and momentum to make that happen.
Why It Matters
For UCB, this journey has supported the laboratory based colleagues understand how to make concrete contributions towards corporate sustainability objectives. Traditional lab practices carry unintended environmental consequences in hazardous waste, water, and energy consumption. To continue innovating and finding new treatments and solutions for people living with severe diseases, scientists too must adopt new ways of working to deliver medicines more sustainably. My Green Lab Certification offers a standardized, science-based framework with external recognition. In UCB’s experience, the most important success factor was a core team of lab leads committed to driving sustainable practices. For pharmaceutical and life sciences organizations, this demonstrates that meaningful sustainability progress is achievable without compromising scientific quality, while advancing corporate climate Net-Zero commitments.
Join the pharmaceutical and life sciences organizations advancing their Net-Zero commitments through My Green Lab Certification.