Original article published by Kelly Nunge, SD&SR Project and Coordination Officer, on the Unistra Intranet. Reproduced with her permission.
The two “Sustainable Development and Social Responsibility (SD&SR) referents in action” calls for projects launched by the Mission SD&SR have resulted in a large number of waste reduction and recovery projects being put forward. Most of them receive a grant. Christine Thumann, a Research Engineer and the SD&SR coordinator for research unit 1110 (ITM), was awarded a grant for the first time in 2023 for a project to collect polystyrene boxes. She tells us:
“In the life sciences research laboratory where I work, we frequently receive parcels of refrigerated or frozen samples (at +4°C, -20°C or in dry ice). These samples are packaged in polystyrene boxes. These boxes are currently treated as household waste and incinerated. But this material is perfectly recyclable.”
Ms Thumann therefore applied to the “SD&SR referents in action mode” call for projects to have these polystyrene boxes recycled, after collection by a service provider. The aim was to try out a sustainable solution for reducing the volume of household waste produced by the research unit.
“On the long run, our second objective would be to extend this initiative to other research units that generate this type of waste. Ideally, this collection would also be included in the University’s new waste contract.” In fact, the collection of polystyrene boxes is not currently part of the contract.
“We called in a service provider who offered to collect the boxes on 1m3 pallets, which we had to film. The operation lasted 6 months and 5 pallets were collected in December 2023. To do this, we had to buy plastic film to package the pallets, find a place to store the boxes and pallets and, last but not least, find some goodwill! I was helped in particular by the lab manager who receives the parcels and the maintenance technician who helped me wrap the pallets. Between the 3 of us, we spent 1 hour a month on this for 6 months.”
Christine’s motivation to take action to reduce waste has not waned, as she was once again awarded funding in 2024 to collect polystyrene boxes. Her first project was pioneering and raised an issue that many research units are facing.
“We responded to the second call for projects launched by Unistra’s SD&SR Mission in early 2024 and our project was once again accepted. Our aim of extending this initiative to other research units was achieved in spring 2024: with the agreement of Mr Gadroy, director of the CRBS (Strasbourg biomedicine research centre), one researcher (UMR_S 1109) and one assistant-engineer (UMR_S 1329) also joined the project. So far, the service provider has collected to lots, one of 4 pallets (4m3) and the other of 5m3.”
This trio of highly motivated researchers is planning a third collection by the end of the year. Thanks to them, around 15 m3 of polystyrene will have been recycled in 2024. Cherry on the cake: this initiative has raised the idea of integrating polystyrene collection into the waste market. See you in 2025 to discover the new market!