Since 2021, Freie Universität has held the EMAS seal of approval, the highest seal for sustainable environmental management in the European Union. Departments and facilities are audited every year according to the strict criteria.
The GreenLab project of the Department of Biology, Chemistry, Pharmacy is aimed at wet laboratories and biological, chemical and pharmaceutical laboratories. We want to help research groups to make their consumption of resources - such as energy, water and waste - more sustainable.
We are now offering support with certification through the external provider My Green Lab. In future, we will also publish information on environmentally friendly laboratory practices, templates for their implementation and examples of best practice.
Britt Schaffranietz
Freie Universität Berlin
Department Biology, Chemistry, Pharmacy
Project „GreenLab“
Arnimallee 22, 14195 Berlin
E-Mail: greenlab@bcp.fu-berlin.de
E-Mail: b.schaffranietz@fu-berlin.de
Phone: +49 30 838 75608
... are aware of their responsible role towards the environment,
... are role models for students and society,
... rethink laboratory procedures with regard to sustainability and
... bring about more environmentally friendly action in the long term.
They save energy, water and materials and reduce waste such as plastic waste and chemicals.
In 2023 and 2024, the working group of biochemistry professor Petra Knaus reduced energy and resource consumption in the laboratory through targeted measures for greater sustainability. This made the Knaus working group the first research group at Freie Universität Berlin to be certified by My Green Lab with the highest “Green Level”.
University of Edinburgh, Social Responsibility & Sustainability, Updated May 2021 by Andrew Arnott
The University of Boulder Colorado and the University of California Irvine host an online database of biological samples which can be stored at -70⁰C or warmer: see database
Waste management, sample preparation, melting points, solvents: Prof. Dr. Maria Kristina Parr from the Institute of Pharmacy and Felix Bredendiek from the CoreFacility BioSupraMol, PharmaMS department, discuss ways to achieve greater sustainability in pharmaceutical chemistry.
Publication (in German): Pharmakon · 13. Jg · 1/2025 31, DOI:10.1691/pn.20250005 (PDF)