When we talk trash, it’s all about how to reduce and divert waste from our landfills. Last year these conversations, along with a commitment from all staff, helped us divert 73% of our waste.
Sustainability Image

 

Our waste management and diversion program is founded on a cycle of continuous improvement. Working with employees, suppliers and our waste management vendors, we challenge each group to change how we sort, segregate and treat our different waste streams. All of this is supported through training and education and is monitored on a monthly basis to ensure that we are staying on track.

 

 

Nothing to Waste

At LifeLabs, we work to create a culture that inspires innovative and creative thinking for the environment. With our annual waste audit, we analyze the amount of trash we produce each day and use that information to establish new creative solutions to reduce our environmental footprint.

 

Sustainability Image
Sustainability Image

We have found that sometimes you have to get your hands a little dirty to keep our environment clean. In 2017, we launched an annual waste audit initiative to analyze the garbage collected from four of our main laboratories during a 24-hour period. Our environment team, along with a handful of dedicated employees, sorted the materials into several categories, such as non-recyclables, plastics, metals, paper, electronics, cardboard, and organics. The findings from our waste audit have helped us understand how much waste we are producing and how we can limit what ends up in landfills.

 

And that is just the beginning. By doing an annual assessment, we are monitoring what is working and what more we can do to reduce our environmental footprint.

We know that our business has an impact on the communities we operate in, and we make it our shared responsibility to create innovative solutions to introduce sustainable practices into our everyday routines. Through actions that are big and small, we will continue to contribute to the well-being of our planet — and ultimately the health of every member of our community.