Parc Taulí is firmly committed to reducing its environmental impact. Clinical laboratories are among the spaces where the most waste is generated and there is a high consumption of energy and water. It is estimated that the energy consumption of a clinical laboratory per year is equivalent to 30 households together; it generates around 36.000 kg of solid waste per year and produces around 100 tonnes of CO₂ per year, which is the equivalent of 30 cars driving non-stop for a year.
Given these data, the Clinical Laboratory of Parc Taulí decided to become the most sustainable clinical laboratory in the State. For this reason, the professionals of the clinical laboratory of Parc Taulí are working, together with one of its most important suppliers Roche Diagnostics, to be the first Clinical Laboratory in the State with the My Green Lab certification. This environmental certification is internationally recognized and is a green seal for laboratories committed to sustainability. Until now, in Spain, pharmaceutical or research laboratories have obtained this certification but no clinical laboratory.
This process began in December of last year, although the Laboratory's professionals have been working to reduce the impact on the environment for some time. “Prior to this project, we had already begun taking measures to improve environmental sustainability: reducing printed paper by 35%, digitizing manual processes; saving 71% on the use of expanded polystyrene, using reusable metal sample racks and launching different awareness campaigns to improve the environmental sustainability of the laboratory.". All this prior work is the result of the sensitivity to environmental issues of the service professionals, explains the director of the Laboratory service, Luz Muñoz.
This previous work allowed the clinical laboratory at Parc Taulí to start the project with 48% of the actions implemented that the My Green Lab certification requires, “Our goal is to implement more than 60% of the actions required to have at least the Gold level and be the first Clinical laboratory with this international certificate.", assures Dr. Luz Muñoz. To carry out the project, the service together with Roche Diagnostics, which offers its experience in energizing projects and initiatives, has created a group of professionals with representatives from the different areas of the laboratories to ensure that the actions are implemented in the workplaces. For this reason, teamwork and awareness of the entire service are essential.
The My Green Lab project focuses on four areas: waste management and recycling, minimizing the generation of hazardous waste and improving separation at source; energy saving and efficiency, laboratories operate 24/7 and have equipment with high energy consumption; water and reagent management and green purchasing and sustainable logistics, the environmental impact begins before the product reaches the laboratory.
At this time, the Parc Taulí Laboratory has almost completed the objectives that had been established by reducing water consumption by about 60.000 liters per year and energy consumption by about 4.380 kW, reorganizing the workflow in the CORE and emergency laboratories in the afternoons, closing equipment that was not necessary; closing 35 computers from 17 pm, representing a saving of 9.198 kW and lowering the temperature of the freezers from -80 to -70, a reduction of 10.350 kW. In addition, waste segregation has been improved with the identification of the most dangerous ones such as polluting plastics. These actions have been carried out together with the cleaning service and the environmental sustainability committee of the corporation.
"Environmental sustainability is a current challenge for laboratories. Adopting sustainable measures not only reduces this negative impact and improves social well-being; it also improves laboratory consumption, economic and production and improves equipment stability.”, says the service director of the Clinical Laboratory at Parc Taulí.
The fact that Parc Taulí is the first clinical laboratory in the state to have this certificate positions it as an innovative and benchmark clinical laboratory in its field.
