Sustainability

How Promega Supports Sustainable Science

Posted on by Simon Moe

What is ACT and why does it matter?

The ACT label stands for Accountability, Consistency and Transparency. The ACT label provides information on the environmental impact of life science products to help researchers make informed choices about the products they use in their labs. ACT was developed by the non-profit organization My Green Lab, in collaboration with the International Institute for Sustainable Laboratories (I2SL).

The ACT label is one of the most comprehensive product labels for the life sciences. It measures the environmental impact of a product across four categories: manufacturing, user impact, end of life, and innovation. The criterion was developed with input from industry leaders, scientists, manufacturers, and sustainability directors. Most categories are scored on a scale from 1 to 10; 10 being the highest score. Other values are assigned a yes/no value or in some instances, a specific value per day (ex. kWh/day). The Environmental Impact Factor (EIF) is the summation of these categories. The varying energy usage and distinct reports across global markets has resulted in separate awards for different world regions. By choosing products with the ACT label, researchers can align their purchasing behaviors with any goals of reducing their environmental footprint and support sustainable practices in the life science industry.

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Revolutionizing Food Security: How Biotechnology Contributes to Sustainability and Safety

Posted on by Kerstin Hurd
field of crops/food

Projections from the United Nations suggest that the global population reached 8 billion in 2022. By 2030, the United Nations expect the population will grow to 8.5 billion (1).  In order to sustain the rapidly expanding global population, innovative approaches in the agriculture sector are required to ensure food security and safety while maintaining sustainable practices.

Centuries of cultivating crops and raising livestock have honed our current agricultural methods. In the 21st century, these techniques encounter persistent challenges. Environmental factors such as soil degradation, water scarcity, and climate change pose significant threats to production. Additionally, the constant risks posed by pests and diseases can devastate both crops and livestock.

Read more about how the current avian flu crosses species and affects livestock.

The agriculture sector’s challenge of feeding the world sustainably lies in the limited access to natural resources like land and water. Unfortunately, these resources don’t grow with our population, so we need to find a way to increase productivity per unit of land (2). Ideally, using less water and potentially harmful pesticides.

Biotechnology offers innovative solutions that support sustainable agriculture practices to not only enhance food production, but also increase nutritional value and safety of our food supply.

Biotechnology in Agriculture: Enhancing Crop Yield and Resilience:

For much of the history of agriculture, breeding programs have involved selectively breeding desirable traits to increase yield, quality, and resilience. In the age of biotechnology, agriculturalists are revolutionizing this practice with the help of cloning and CRISPR technologies.

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We’re Committing to 100% Renewable Electricity by 2025

Posted on by Jordan Villanueva
Solar panels on the roofs of Feynman Center, Kornberg Center, and the main Promega Madison parking structure

In 2021, we unveiled our most ambitious sustainability goals ever. These goals include a 50% reduction in carbon emissions by 2030, as indexed to revenue over a 2019 baseline.

In 2022, we announced that renewable sources provided over 20% of our global electricity usage.

This year, Promega is excited to announce that we’re committing to 100% renewable electricity by 2025.

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Earth Month Events Highlight Recycling, Lawn Care and More!

Posted on by Jordan Villanueva
The Earth Month Plant Swap included cuttings from displays throughout the Promega Madison campus

Earth Day 2023 is past, but protecting our environment and natural resources is important every day of the year.

As a company, Promega has set ambitious goals for reducing our carbon emissions, plastic waste and water usage by 2030. We design each new building to surpass the sustainability features of all previous facilities. Our culinary garden employs techniques that are beneficial to the ecosystem, from enriching the soil to supporting local wildlife. In fact, over 225 acres of our 400-acre Madison campus is dedicated to preserved prairie, wetlands and woodlands.

Promega employees are also dedicated to reducing their impact on the natural world. This month, a series of employee-hosted Earth Month events gave Madison-based Promega employees the opportunity to test-drive electric cars, trade plants and learn about sustainable lawncare. Here are a few highlights from Earth Month 2023 at Promega.

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“Forever” Chemicals: Forever No More

Posted on by Jordan Nutting

If you were tasked with destroying something called “forever chemicals”, chances are you’d be leaning towards rather harsh methods. Incineration would probably be on the table.

These so-called “forever chemicals”, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), are a family of organic compounds where fluoride replaces hydrogens atoms on carbon chains. They are very water and oil repellent, which makes them ideal for use in non-stick cookware, stain-proof fabrics and fire-suppressing foams. Recent studies, however, show that exposure to PFAS is linked to a range of health issues—from increased cholesterol levels to some cancers. Even levels of PFAS present in drinking water in as low as parts per billion levels can pose risks to human health. These risks are exacerbated by the tendency for PFAS to bioaccumulate, or become concentrated in the tissues of humans and animals.

Methods do exist to filter out PFAS from water. But what do you do when it’s time to replace those filters? Simply throwing out PFAS-contaminated equipment just moves the problem to a landfill.

Person getting a glass of water from a kitchen faucet.

Instead, these “forever chemicals” need to be destroyed. Most existing strategies for breaking down PFAS use harsh conditions, such as incinerating PFAS residues in furnaces or oxidizing them in supercritical water—water that is at more than 37°C and 200atm of pressure. Now, scientists reporting in Science have discovered that such extreme methods may not be needed to destroy “forever chemicals” (1).

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A Different Kind of Sustainable Growth: What’s Happening in the Promega Garden

Posted on by Jordan Villanueva
Tomatoes growing in the Promega garden
Tomato season is ending soon, and Mike has already harvested 2,500 pounds from the Promega garden.

Summer is winding down at Promega Madison. Kids are heading back to school, sunset is creeping earlier, and a new cycle of academic research projects are ramping up. However, in the Promega garden, Master Gardener Mike Daugherty is still hard at work harvesting fresh produce that will soon become delicious meals in our cafeterias. As the seasons begin to change, I stopped by to learn what’s happening on the farm. Here are a few highlights that Mike shared.

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Promega Sourcing Over 20% of Global Electricity from Renewable Sources

Posted on by Jordan Villanueva

Last summer, we announced our most ambitious sustainability goals ever. This year, as part of our annual reporting, we are proud to share that over 20% of our global electricity is supplied by renewable sources. This represents a ten-fold increase in our renewable energy usage over the past three years.

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Don’t Dump your Pumpkin! Post-Halloween Uses

Posted on by Riley Bell

Pumpkins have historically been a sure sign of the Halloween season in the United States. Although they are most used for Halloween, there are many ways to use pumpkins after those spooky October days.

Every year in America, more than 1 billion pounds of pumpkin gets tossed in the trash and wasted. Instead of leaving them to rot in the landfill, try one of these ways to get more use out of your pumpkin after this year’s Halloween!

Hopefully, after reading this list, you are able to revel in the fact that a pumpkin is not just for Halloween. Not only can this help you save money, save time, and cook delicious dishes, but it also takes a much more eco-friendly approach instead of wasting food or creating garbage.

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iGEM Malaga: Recycling Waste Olive Oil into Paint for Kids

Posted on by Promega

Today’s blog was written in collaboration with Melissa Martin, a global marketing intern with Promega. She is a senior at the University of Wisconsin-Madison where she is double majoring in zoology and life sciences communication, with a certificate in environmental studies.

In the best circumstances, leftover cooking oil ends up in a recycling center and is eventually burned as a biofuel. But it is also frequently dumped down kitchen drains where it proceeds to pollute sewage, water treatment facilities, and waterways.

Is there a more valuable and less harmful way to use up waste cooking oil? A group of students at the University of Málaga thinks they have a solution that will also make science more approachable and exciting for children.

Picture of UMA_MALAGA team in their lab where they are working on a project to recycle waste olive oil
The UMA_MALAGA team. Front row, left to right: Natalia Cardoso, Fran Antequera, Isa Antequera, and Alex Jiménez. Back row, left to right: Maria Rodríguez, Alvaro Jiménez, Juan Herrera, Alex Rojo, Dani Díaz, and Christina Viúdez.
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