SEATTLE (Recycling Monster): The collaboration between MIT’s Environment, Health, and Safety (EHS) Office with local startup GreenLabs Recycling to isolate, collect and recycle clean lab plastics at various research labs in the Department of Biology has turned out to be a huge success.

As on date, the campus Lab Plastics Recycling Program is spearheaded by EHS technicians, who collects clean lab plastics from as many as 212 MIT labs and transfers them to GreenLabs for recycling. The number of participating MIT labs has registered tremendous growth since the launch of the pilot in 2019.

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The collections too have registered consistent growth over the years. EHS collected a total of 170 pounds of plastic waste per week from participating labs in 2020. The collection has grown to 250 pounds per week in 2021 and to 280 pounds of plastic per week in 2022, data suggests.

Joanna Buchthal, a research assistant with the MIT Media Lab recollected that the laboratory used to be continuously troubled by the substantial volume of plastic waste prior to joining the EHS Lab Plastics Recycling Program. The EHS program provides a solution to labs facing similar challenges with plastics use, Buchthal noted.