Plastics recycling from genetic engineering laboratory areas (Part 1-S1)

Sustainable science will increasingly be addressed in the context of current societal debates about climate-neutral living. The significantly increasing amounts of single-use plastics used in genetic engineering laboratories since the origins of genetic engineering in the 1970s and 1980s should be included in the climate protection discussion.

In addition to avoiding single-use plastics, as a first measure, considering recycling plastics as homogeneously as possible would be an important approach to achieving greater climate neutrality in genetic engineering research laboratories. And according to Section 7 of the German Closed Substance Cycle and Waste Management Act (KrWG), there is even a de jure hierarchy for waste prevention and waste management. Furthermore, there is an obligation to treat waste separately (Section 9 KrWG).

However, waste law also provides for exceptions to these basic obligations: According to Section 9 (3) KrWG, separate waste collection is not required if, among other things, ‘separate collection of waste is not the best way to protect human health and the environment, taking into account the environmental impact of its management’ .

This is where the provisions of the GenTSV come into play. Waste that is or could be contaminated with genetically modified organisms (GMOs) must be inactivated by autoclaving before disposal (Section 25 GenTSV). However, there are exceptions here too: according to Section 24 Paragraph 1 No. 2 GenTSV, solid waste from S1 facilities can be disposed of without special pretreatment if the waste was not generated in direct connection with genetic engineering work and is not potentially contaminated with GMOs. Ensuring the latter part—namely, "non-contamination"—is the crux of the matter, especially when the work is carried out under microbiological safety cabinets (MSW). Most work with GMOs in the S1 laboratory is carried out under a MSW, since, for example, potentially contaminating aerosols are generated when pipetting culture media or wash buffers, or the biological materials in the experiment must be protected from environmental contamination. However, even if contamination protection were the sole focus, the unintentional transfer of GMOs to disposable plastic containers cannot be ruled out when working in the MSW. To reliably prevent this, working methods would have to be highly standardized and closely monitored. In principle, this would correspond to the requirements of Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) production facilities. However, such a complex procedure is hardly feasible in research institutions, both organizationally and financially.

Conclusion: Recycling plastic waste from the S1 laboratory as cleanly as possible is, after avoiding such materials, an important measure for establishing climate-neutral (or more climate-neutral) research. However, ensuring its "non-contamination" is the core challenge for meeting the GenTSV's waste disposal requirements.