# Auditing

**URL:** <https://network.greenyourlab.org/t/auditing/1480>\
**Category:** Waste\
**Created:** [May 26, 2023, 1:09am UTC](https://network.greenyourlab.org/t/auditing/1480 "2023-05-26T01:09:43Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![GreenYourLab](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/network.greenyourlab.org/greenyourlab/32/517_2.png) [@GreenYourLab](https://network.greenyourlab.org/u/GreenYourLab)\
**Post date:** [May 26, 2023, 1:09am UTC](https://network.greenyourlab.org/t/auditing/1480/1 "2023-05-26T01:09:43Z")

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![image](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/free1/uploads/greenyourlab/original/1X/d97f6929f3a728ba8cf49c2a0eea44866bf4f6be.jpeg)

- Photo by Department of Earth Science, University of Bergen

A structured audit helps you identify which items generate the most plastic waste, test interventions, and measure real improvements over time. This [case study](https://www.microbiologyresearch.org/content/journal/acmi/10.1099/acmi.0.000173) from the Roslin Institute suggests a great process.

## Step 1 – Define the scope and goals

**Decide what you’re auditing:**

- **Which waste streams?**  **Plastic only** , or also paper, glass, chemicals, PPE?
- **Which areas?** Whole building, one lab, one group, or one room?
- **Which items?** Pipette tips, tubes, plates, flasks, packaging, etc.

**Clarify your goals:**

- Reduce single‑use plastics by X%
- Identify top 5 plastic items by volume
- Validate reuse strategies
- Reduce contamination in recycling

## Step 2 – Set a baseline period

**Choose a baseline duration:**

- **Recommended:** 4 weeks (as in the case study)
- Long enough to capture normal behaviour and variability

During this period:

- **Do not change behaviour yet**
- No new posters, no new rules—just observe and record
- Tell people you’re auditing, but not _what_ you’re targeting

## Step 3 – Design your tracking sheet

Create a simple tracker (spreadsheet or form) with at least:

- **Date / Week**
- **Location / Lab**
- **Item type** (e.g. 1.5 mL tube, 50 mL tube, tip box, plate)
- **Material** (PP, PS, PET, etc. if known)
- **Quantity**
- **Waste stream** (general, recycling, biohazard, sharps, etc.)
- **Reusable?** (Yes/No/Possible)
- **Contamination present?** (Yes/No)
- **Notes** (e.g. “from PCR”, “from teaching practical”, “heavily contaminated”)

You can later add:

- **Intervention applied**
- **Post‑intervention quantity**
- **% reduction**

## Step 4 – Collect baseline data

On a regular schedule (e.g. daily or 2–3× per week):

1. **Go through the bins** in the defined area(s).
2. **Sort and count** target items (or weigh, if counting is too time‑consuming).
3. **Record contamination** (e.g. food, gloves, biohazard in recycling).
4. **Note patterns** (e.g. “Mondays high tips from qPCR”, “teaching days = more plates”).

Keep this going for the full baseline period.

## Step 5 – Identify main offenders

At the end of the baseline:

- Sort your data by **quantity** and/or **weight**.
- Identify the **top 5–10 items** that generate the most waste.
- Mark which of these are:
  - **Potentially reusable**
  - **Replaceable with glass or other reusables**
  - **Reducible by better planning (e.g. fewer repeats, smaller volumes)**

These are your **priority targets**.

## Step 6 – Design interventions

For each main offender, choose one or more interventions:

- **Reduce at source**
  - Better experimental design
  - Fewer repeats
  - Smaller volumes
  - Shared reagents or master mixes

- **Reuse**
  - Wash and reuse tubes, plates, cuvettes (where appropriate)
  - Switch to glassware or metal tools
  - Implement decontamination protocols

- **Replace**
  - Glass Petri dishes instead of plastic
  - Bottle‑top dispensers instead of repeated pipetting
  - Reusable silicone covers instead of parafilm

- **Improve sorting**
  - Clear bin labels
  - Posters with photos
  - Training on what is recyclable and what is not

## Step 7 – Engage the team

Behaviour change is crucial.

- Identify **one or two “sustainability champions”** in the lab.
- Present baseline results at a lab meeting:
  - “We used X thousand tips in 4 weeks.”
  - “These 3 items make up Y% of our plastic waste.”

- Agree on **which interventions to try** and **for how long** (e.g. 6–8 weeks).
- Put up **simple, visual reminders** near benches and bins.

## Step 8 – Implement interventions

Start your intervention period:

- Apply the chosen changes (reuse, reduction, replacement, better sorting).
- Keep other conditions as similar as possible to baseline.
- Encourage people to **report issues** (e.g. inconvenience, contamination, protocol conflicts).

## Step 9 – Continue tracking during intervention

Use the **same tracking sheet** as in the baseline:

- Same items
- Same locations
- Same frequency of data collection

This allows **direct comparison** :

- Baseline vs. post‑intervention
- Quantity of each item
- Contamination rates
- Success of reuse strategies

## Step 10 – Validate reuse (side‑by‑side testing)

For any **reused** item (e.g. tubes, plates, cuvettes):

- Run **side‑by‑side experiments** :
  - New vs. reused consumables
  - Same protocol, same conditions

- Compare:
  - Yield
  - Contamination
  - Signal quality
  - Reproducibility

If there is **no meaningful difference** , you can safely adopt reuse for that application.

Document:

- Protocol for washing/decontamination
- Number of reuse cycles tested
- Any limitations (e.g. “only for non‑sterile work”)

## Step 11 – Analyse and communicate results

At the end of the intervention period:

- Calculate:
  - **Total reduction** in each item (absolute and %)
  - **Overall plastic reduction** (items or weight)
  - **Change in contamination rates**

- Highlight:
  - Which interventions worked best
  - Which were difficult or unpopular
  - What should become **standard practice**

Share results:

- Lab meetings
- Posters in the lab
- Internal newsletters or sustainability groups

Visible success helps maintain motivation.

## Step 12 – Iterate and expand

Use what you’ve learned to:

- Make successful interventions **permanent**
- Tweak or drop ineffective ones
- Add **new target items** to the audit
- Expand from one lab to **multiple labs or whole buildings**

You now have a **repeatable framework** :

> **Identify → Measure → Intervene → Validate → Monitor → Scale**

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