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The University of Manchester鈥檚 Geography Laboratories have been certified as operating to a Gold standard in the Laboratory Efficiency Assessment Framework (LEAF).  

The University is committed to environmental sustainability goals as set out in the Environmental Sustainability Strategy 2023-2028. This includes driving efficiencies across our laboratory spaces, and one way we measure this is through the .  

Followed by 85 global institutions, LEAF is a standard established by UCL to improve the sustainability and efficiency of laboratories. Assessment is across five categories: waste, people, sample and chemical management, equipment and ventilation. Institutions can achieve Bronze, Silver or Gold certification depending on how many sustainability actions they take.  

鈥淎s a Geography lab, where much of our work is environmental study, we feel it鈥檚 important to lead by example in respect of efficiency and environmental impact鈥� commented Jon Yarwood, Geography Laboratory Technician. 鈥淭hrough the audit we鈥檝e worked through our Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) to see where we can improve our reduction, reuse and recycling of chemicals and equipment and tested methods where we felt it could be appropriate, and in turn we鈥檝e found where we can improve efficiency of processes鈥�.  

Sustainability has also been a key consideration for equipment choices and supplier selection in the Geography Lab, and environmentally conscious users also play an important role. 鈥淲e鈥檙e fortunate to have very environmentally aware users who often discuss where they feel methods might feel particularly wasteful. They are very engaged with the lab induction and SOP training when it comes to good lab practice, such as in the use of fume hoods and waste disposal streams, and by asking questions about the possibility of re-use and recycling. Through these and interactions through the TEaM [Technical Excellence at 91直播] network, we鈥檝e also found ways we can improve鈥�, said Jon.