It’s great to reuse your resources.
For more sensitive protocols, it can be smart to do some side-by-side experiments to ensure your reuse is not impacting your results. You want to make sure that your washing and sterilization protocol is working as intended.
Dry Ice
Collect dry ice received in shipments and store in ULT freezer to be used later.
Buying in Bulk
Making purchases in bulk, saving on packaging and transport costs.
Chemical Refilling System
Some organizations have (or can start) a central dispensing for common chemicals such as ethanol, methanol and acetone. This allows for chemicals to be purchased in bulk.
The chemicals are dispensed into smaller containers for each laboratory. Start a system where containers are returned for refilling.
Central Stores
Having an centralized area where researchers can buy common consumables means your organization can purchase in bulk.
Reusables instead of Consumables
Opt for reusables
- Choose glass test tubes and pipettes that can be reused
- Weigh boats can be washed and reused. Instead of plastic weigh boats, switch to watch glasses or metal weigh boats. If reactivity is a concern, try paper weigh boats. Even the disposable ones can be washed and reused until they break.
(Image by Dr. James Torpey)
** We just keep the 2-5 that are the most common things (agarose, agar, sucrose, etc) and just sit them on the shelf (labeled) without washing. If you just measure the same thing in them, you don’t really need to wash. Careful of dust and other contaminants
- Use glass beads (which can be autoclaved) instead of single use cell/plate spreaders)
- If you are using falcon tubes to grow bacteria or yeast, consider changing to glass vials that can be washed and autoclaved.
- Some labs wash out plastic ziplock bags that poly acrylamide gels are stored in - they’re washed out and reused repeatedly and same with the toothpicks that you streak cells with
- wash PCR tubes with bleach, water, and isopropanol for reuse
- We reuse scrappers
** If harvesting for cell lysates for further cultures - washed and autoclaved ~4x before they go to the bin
** If harvesting for Western, rinsing under water is sufficient - Makes them last longer - We used pipette boxes as temporary mice holding boxes. Careful when using this tip
Tools
Plastic tips for bacterial colony picking
Wooden sticks (biodegradable and reused after autoclave)
Inoculation loops
Use metal inoculation loops instead of plastic ones. They are sterilized by flame. Just be careful to let it cool before using to ensure you don’t kill your bacteria. If that’s no possible, consider wooden toothpicks. Some people even sterilize and reuse the toothpicks!
Cell Spreaders
Use glass cell spreaders. Similar to the metal inoculation loops, they are sterilized by flame and you need to be careful to let it cool before using to ensure you don’t kill your bacteria.
50mL Conical tubes
For DNA/RNA extraction using the Qiagen kits with the 50mL conical tubes, replace with 50mL glass cylinders.
Parafilm
Get reusable silicone covers instead (used at PIXC Research Facility at the University of Leeds)
Petri Dishes
With plastic it can be difficult to get a clear vision of what is happening within and they must constantly be replaced due to their one time use. Consider buying glass petri dishes to get a clearer view of the growth stages the bacteria is going through and save money. When separating bacterial colonies use toothpicks or glassware.
Wrappings
Labs back in the 60s had no plastic or paper wrappers of any kind. We re-used everything after washing and sterilization. Pipets went in cans and Petris and syringes were wrapped in linen and taped shut.
Example: Pipet autoclave boxes
Reuse the “Consumables”
Setting Up a Decontamination Station for Safe Reuse
A dedicated decontamination station allows labs to safely reuse many items normally treated as single‑use.
Roslin Institute case study showed that standardized workflows and validation steps are essential for ensuring sterility and maintaining experimental quality.
Why Create a Decontamination Station?
A decontamination station:
- Enables safe reuse of tubes, plates, cuvettes, and other plastics
- Standardizes washing and sterilization
- Reduces contamination risk
- Supports lab‑wide behaviour change
- Significantly reduces plastic waste
Decontamination Workflow
1. Collection
Set up clearly labelled bins for items intended for reuse.
Separate by type (tubes, plates, cuvettes) and ensure items are emptied before collection.
2. Pre‑Rinse
Rinse items with tap water to remove visible residues.
Discard cracked or warped items.
3. Standardized Chemical Disinfection
Recommended disinfectants:
- 10% bleach (sodium hypochlorite)
- Distel
- Virkon
- 70% ethanol (for final wipe‑downs)
Typical protocol:
- Fully submerge items
- Soak 12–24 hours
- Ensure lids are removed so disinfectant contacts all surfaces
4. Rinse
Rinse thoroughly with tap water, then twice with distilled/DI water to remove chemical residues.
5. Drying
Air‑dry upside‑down on racks. Avoid towel‑drying to prevent lint contamination.
6. Autoclaving (if required)
Autoclave items that need to be sterile.
Use autoclave‑safe baskets/bags and confirm sterilization with autoclave tape.
7. Storage
Store cleaned items in labelled, dust‑free containers.
Keep sterile and non‑sterile items separate.
Validation of Sterility
Before adopting reuse, validate the process with side‑by‑side tests comparing new vs. reused items.
Check for:
- Contamination
- Yield differences
- Assay performance
- Reproducibility
Document:
- Number of reuse cycles tested
- Any limitations (e.g., “only for non‑sterile workflows”)
Example Validation Tests
- Media sterility test: incubate reused tubes with sterile media
- PCR inhibition test: run identical reactions in new vs. reused tubes
- Cell culture test: test reused plastics in non‑critical workflows first
Safety Considerations
Always wear PPE.
Ensure good ventilation when using bleach or strong disinfectants.
Never mix disinfectants (e.g., bleach + ethanol).
Label all chemical containers clearly.
Dispose of spent disinfectant according to institutional rules.
Do not reuse items that are cracked, warped, or retain chemical odours.
Serological Pipettes
For pipetting common non-sterile solutions (e.g. ethanol, concentrated buffered solutions). Sheathed in their plastic wrap, labelled with the working solution that they were used for, and attached to the cupboard near the pipette controller
Wash Serological Pipettes
- By Wayne Curtis
Info on decontaminating pipettes
Cuvettes
Roslin Institute, University of Edinburgh: Decontaminated overnight in 10 % Distel, rinsed with water, dried and reused
Petri Dishes
**Roslin Institute, University of Edinburgh:**Petri dishes used in cell culture room with media only are decontaminated, washed and reused for agar media with antibiotics
Purification Columns
The average costs of the cartridges are $4 -$8. Remove the silica gel, rinse with acetone, let it dry and reuse again. Successfully done with Redisep Rf columns.
DNA/RNA columns
For mini-prep and maxi-prep columns, they can be regenerated. Done right, it doesn’t compromise yield and no DNA contamination.
Procedure for DNA columns (miniprep, tip20, tip100):
- Soak columns in HCl overnight (can even store up to 1 month in HCl)
- Drain
- Wash with 5 column volumes of distilled water
@sarojsaurya checked the procedure with different antibiotic resistance and nanodrop.
The columns can be generated at least 20x.
For Maxi columns (may need some optimization as columns are larger):
- pass once or twice with QF buffer
- leave them in 1M HCL for 2-3 days
- pass them once with 1M HCL
- then 5 times with distilled water.
- You can use fresh or dried.
Reference:
000112327.pdf (440.1 KB)
Try other columns, do samples side-by-side, do all controls with and without cultures to validate.
You can even make your own kit reagents to save money and shipping. These reagents are mostly water and this can save on transport footprint. Use these cheat sheets.
Plasmid Prep Cheatsheet:
PlasmidPrepCheatsheetv3.pdf (193.5 KB)
Silica Column Cheat Sheet:SilicaColumnCheatsheetv13.pdf (134.7 KB)
See this reference for RNA columns.
Cell Conter Slides
iWash® stations cleans and allows you to reuse single-use and disposable plastic cell counter slides. It is compatible with most automated cell counters. According to Barry John Reid, the ROI for this piece of equipment is approximately 1 year.
96-Well Plates
Cell viability assay
Viability assays are performed by aliquoting samples from cell culture plates into sterile 96 well plates for spectrometric or fluorometric analysis.
Protocol: Plates were thoroughly washed with distilled watertwice and left to dry overnight prior to use.
Result: No significant difference in the assessment of cell viability using the MTT viability assay between new and reused 96 well plates (Figure 1) . The same was true for the assessment of NOrelease using the Griess Reagent, a similar 96-well plate based assay (Figure 2).
(McGill Study)
Bacterial Growth
Sample Protocol:
- Collect plates from multiple people in the lab
- Pour out the cultures into a separate container
- Make a small virkon bath of slightly higher strength and submerge the plates in the bath (in batches - use it a few times)
- Take the plates out and put them through the dishwasher.
- Autoclave in foil (Make sure you are using plates that don’t melt in the autoclave. We’ve used Nunc brand polypropylene plates)
- Reuse the leftover virkon from the bath to disinfect the cultures from step #2 (then put that container in the dishwasher once rinsed).
You first need to experiment to see if your current plastic plates are autoclavable.
We’ve had some success with Nunc brand polypropylene plates
We’ve heard of labs 3D printing multi-nozzle jets that hook onto their water hoses from their tap
Microplate cleaning service - PlasmaKnife Service Center - IonField Systems
and the cleaner (looks expensive though!) - The Microplate Cleaning System, powered by PlasmaKnife technology - IonField Systems
Centrifuge Tubes
At the University of Oxford. Photo by @sarojsaurya
Roslin Institute, University of Edinburgh:
- Chemically decontaminated overnight, rinsed with water, washed in a dishwasher with a water-only programme, autoclaved in bags.
- Tubes are closed in a cell culture hood and considered sterile for non-cell culture work.
- We stopped using universal tubes since they cannot be autoclaved for reuse.
- Control: tested for contaminations. None so far
Don’t just throw it out
Old containers
DMEM and PBS bottles since they are sterile and can be used to store harvested viruses
Bottles, tubs, tubes, pipette boxes can be cleaned and reused as containers for various items.
Polystyrene boxes can be used to safely store glass items
Reuse polystyrene boxes as ice boxes. See if your shipping department (or local shipping companies) can use them. Just make sure you adhere to health and safety requirements. Make sure your boxes are clean, no scientific material has leaked and preferably without any labeling that says they were used for scientific materials. Some instutitons have a communal collection space for styrofoam conainers.
For containers that can’t be cleaned, reuse as a waste collection container.
Also consider sanitizing and re-using outside the lab. We heard of people using large agar buckets with the locking screw lids as pet food storage, KimWipe boxes as penholders, and pasteur pipette boxes for paper organization. Boxes that countess slides come in as gift boxes and as a post-it note holder.
Packaging
- Save bags that consummables come in. They’re great when you need a bag to carry things, or to sort samples. They’re great for keeping Petri dishes from getting dehydrated.
Reuse from beyond the lab
Pop bottles as bacterial culture flasks
Reuse your old 2L pop bottles to culture bacteria. They are already baffled at the bottom for aeration.
Although it’s great if you can reuse, since soda bottles are waste anyway (ok, ok, we know they can be recycled), you don’t have to feel terrible for disposing them after use. They are ideal for growths where cross-contamination is a problem with traditional glassware.
Millard et al.
1-s2.0-S1046592803000639-main.pdf (298.9 KB)
compared pop bottles to traditional flasks and found yield, solubility, activity, and pattern of crystallization of proteins expressed to be nearly identical. Sreenath et al.
2005_Sreenath_Protocols for Se-Met proteins in 2-L PET bottles using AIM medium.pdf (1.0 MB)
also did a similar comparison.
Washing protocols:
UW-Madison - little bleach and soap. Rinse them well in the morning and autoclave to be safe
- A little warning on this one. One would not have assumed the bottles could be autoclaved without melting, so proceed with caution.
University of Oxford - Fresh bottles rinsed with 70% ethanol; single use. I would collect empty bottles after the endless student meetings we used to have in our dept.
University of Warick - Used for growing starter cultures - Milton Sterilising Tablets
(Photo Credit: Dr. Christine Morrison @ Colarado School of Mines]
It isn’t for all types of lab work. If you are planning to run ICP, GFAA, & ICP-MS, you might get some leaching depending on the temperature of your incubator and how many times the bottles are reused. You will likely get some microparticles and your bateria might degrade the plastic. But still a fantastic idea for most other cultures.
Do consider writing “not for human consumption” on the bottle - just in case.
Alternative: Use Mason Jars
- Dishwasher safe, autoclavable
Chemicals
Gel Buffers
SDS-Page running buffers can be reused a handful of times (done at PIXC Research Facility at University of Leeds).
Gel rinses can be used multiple times as well. @ Fanny keeps a few bottles of different grades - bottle of rinse used many times already to a bottle of fresh. Do a first rinse with a pre-used rinse, then a second rinse with a less-used rinse solution. But she also suggests thinking about the quality of the gel required and using that to pick the quality of rinse solution. For example, just to quickly see if protein was expressed, use a pre-used buffer. For paper quality gels, do a first rinse with a pre-used rinse, then a second rinse with a new rinse solution. Of course, save the rinse solutions after for your next experiment.
Look at Protocols
Investigate every protocol you do carefully to see where you can reduce.
Here are some ideas:
- Split cells in the same dish
** Over time flasks will lose the coating that helps cell stick. So adherent cells may not grab a well, or some lines will stick to well and need scraped off. However, we’re always using them for several weeks to months. - Reuse plasticware for non-sterile applications
** e.g. reuse falcon tube for western blotting - Reuse gel stain and gel destain
- When destaining SDS-PAGE gels, you can actually destain with water instead of destain solution. Sometimes that’s enough overnight. If not, just microwave for a few mins and replace with fresh water and visualize. If it’s still too dark, repeat it again until it lightens up.
- When doing things like mega-preps, where you need a lot of strippettes, you can avoid that waste by having labeled, reusable falcon tubes already labeled with the reagent and the volume you need. Makes the process easier and faster and reduces the amount of waste generated. That can be applied to all protocols where precision/cleanliness is not essential.
- most things branded as “disposable” are reusable after a wash (and autoclave if necessary). i reuse 15 and 50 mL tubes. i wash and reuse miniprep columns. i use disposable desalting/buffer exchange columns several times. i reuse centrifugal concentrators (wash and store with azide). i have even recently been keeping all of my tips to wash and reuse, because apparently i can’t even order any.
- we wash miniprep columns with 20 applications of ‘ultra pure’ water (ie… nano or milli). we use a homemade vacuum manifold to assist, the centrifuge would be slow. tubes are washed in good ole soap and water, final rinse in ultra pure water. tips the same. dry in the fume hood to minimize dust
- We hand cast SDS page gels and make our own “stain free” by adding a small amount of 2-2-2-trichloroethanol to the resolving gel. It allows you to expose the gel to UV light for a few minutes, after which you can check for protein loading amounts, no messy coomassie. Even better yet if you are doing a western, if you’ve already visualized your proteins via UV, you can subsequently check your membrane for protein transfer because it will still be visible with UV light. No ponceau! Bio rad sells precast gels that can do this but they are pricey..,well kept secret that the “stain free” reagent is super cheap and not proprietary. 1-s2.0-S0003269703008017-main.pdf (288.4 KB)
Pre-made Kits
Pre-made kits have become quite popular in labs due to reducing the time it takes to isolate DNA. However, these kits are a one time use and they are expensive. If you have kits think about reusing the DNA extraction columns such as for other solutions or recreating the same kit solution.
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