King's College London

Four ambitious projects were awarded funding through the Sustainable research project grant, seeking to address key sustainability challenges within the research process. 

From reducing waste to changing practices through bringing in new technologies, these projects are a key step in embedding sustainability into our research process.

Read about the projects:

Developing a Circular Workflow for Additive Manufacturing Waste

Ana Rubio-Dennis, Samuel Piper & Charlotte Palmer (Engineering)

This project aims to explore a recycling pathway for waste 3D printing material by repurposing waste Polylactic Acid (PLA) as feedstock for injection moulding, to address the growing issue of non-recyclable waste being produced by research labs and workshops. Injection moulding, which refers to the process of injecting liquids into a mould to produce identical parts, offers advantages for the repeated manufacture of identical components commonly used in experimental work.

Currently an under-explored area, injection moulding is more tolerant of variability in recycled material than reusing PLAs as 3d Printing filaments (currently a more commonly used method), which enables granulated plastic to be used directly and therefore reduce waste.

This project will use readily available, non-industrial equipment to establish a workflow for converting waste PLA into injection-moulded parts on a small to medium scale, and will assess considerations including environmental impacts, reliability and material performance to provide practical guidance for reducing plastic waste generated by research activities.

A Sustainability Impact Assessment of the Safe Recycling of Used Serological Pipettes from Tissue Culture Laboratories in the Roger Williams Building

Nicola Harris (Foundation for Liver Research)

Plastic serological pipettes form a substantial part of waste generated from
primary and secondary tissue culture hoods, and are currently difficult to dispose of
sustainably. Although manufactured from easily recyclable plastic, they require disposal via dedicated high-temperature clinical waste streams. Consequently, this stream results in avoidable carbon emissions and financial cost, as well as non-recyclable protective packaging.

In collaboration with our supplier, two standard operating procedures (SOPs) have been proposed to enable the safe decontamination and subsequent recycling of used serological pipettes. This project will evaluate both protocols to confirm effective decontamination of biological matter, and to assess any impact using them has on the structural integrity of the plastic. The preferred SOP will be compared with energy consumption, carbon impact, and financial cost of current disposal practices. If successful, the project will establish a scalable and cost-effective model for diverting a high-volume laboratory waste stream from incineration to recycling, providing measurable environmental and financial benefits while providing a transferable framework for sustainable laboratory practice across the wider organisation.

Homemade DNA ladders for more sustainable research

Brian Lally & Stephen Terry (Physics)

DNA and protein ladders are widely used in research labs for measuring the size of nucleic acids and proteins using gel electrophoresis. Ladders purchased from commercial sources require shipment to research labs. The economic and environmental costs due to the number of deliveries this activity produces may seem trivial for an individual lab, but scaled across an institute over repeated years of purchasing, soon become significant.

This project aims to target waste reduction and responsible procurement by reducing the number of deliveries from ordering ladders and conserving research funding. Staff will initially focus on creating their own ladders, including testing these “home-made” ladders against commercial ones and documenting the developed protocols for their use. These ladders will then be distributed to other labs at the Crick Institute, along with full documentation of environmental and economic benefits.

The aim of this is to encourage uptake in at least 50% of the labs, with monitoring of impact via feedback forms and reviews of purchasing information. If successful, the next step is to share and replicate the impact of this project across different Kings research departments.

Improving laboratory sustainability through bead-compatible water bath systems

Nadja D'Uonno, Aiste Bulviciene & Rosalind Graham (Innovation Hub)

Temperature controlled water baths are essential equipment in wet laboratories, routinely used for sample incubation, enzymatic reactions, and reagent preparation in tissue culture. However, conventional water baths require frequent water changes, chemical additives to prevent microbial growth, and regular cleaning, resulting in significant water consumption, chemical use, and maintenance time.

This project proposes the purchase of four bead-compatible water baths to replace or significantly reduce reliance on conventional water-filled systems. These water baths can operate with reusable thermal beads, maintaining accurate and stable temperature control and significantly reducing resource use. This will also improve laboratory safety by reducing the risk of spills and exposure to heated liquids.

Importantly, the selected water baths retain full flexibility and can still be used with water when specific protocols require it, ensuring compatibility with existing workflows. This initiative strongly aligns with King’s commitment to sustainable research practices and responsible resource use. By investing in lower-impact laboratory infrastructure, the project will deliver long-term environmental benefits while
maintaining high experimental standards. It also builds on the department’s previous
sustainability initiatives, demonstrating a continued commitment to reducing the
environmental footprint of laboratory research.