On 11th October a celebratory event took place to congratulate those labs who were involved in LEAF during 2021/22. Over twenty labs participated and achieved bronze, silver or gold awards; this is up from the five labs that took part the previous year. The initiative is open to all teaching and research labs and is mainly suitable for labs in WMS, Chemistry and SLS, although this may change in the future. The framework of actions facilitates and drives improvements in laboratory efficiency looking at criteria around waste, travel, energy, water, procurement and research quality.

During the event attendees heard from labs who have taken part about their experiences as well as from Lorenzo Frigerio, Chair of the Faculty of Science, Engineering and Medicine, and Katherine Mayfield, Sustainability Champion, about the importance of sustainability to the Faculty and University. There is great support for the framework as it allows staff and students to review, assess and reduce their impact on the environment without compromising on research quality. Participants also find that Bronze criteria are relatively straightforward as many of them cover processes that are standard within labs.

The University will continue to take part in the initiative during 2022/23 and new labs are encouraged to get involved. A list of all the labs who participated in 2021/22 is available and interested staff and students are strongly encouraged to speak to these labs to find out more. You can register to get involved and start working through the criteria now. The deadline for submissions will be in April with audits taking place in May/June. For more information contact Katherine.mayfield@warwick.ac.uk .