Applying circular economy principles to laboratory consumables using the material circularity indicator
Küçük Resim Yok
Tarih
2026
Yazarlar
Dergi Başlığı
Dergi ISSN
Cilt Başlığı
Yayıncı
Springer Heidelberg
Erişim Hakkı
info:eu-repo/semantics/closedAccess
Özet
Single-use lab consumables are the main contributors to plastic waste. This study aimed to investigate the performance of laboratory consumables in relation to circularity, assessed with the help of the Material Circularity Indicator across the examined circular economy scenarios. The Ellen MacArthur Foundation created MCI to determine the circularity of materials. The scenarios included landfill (S0), reuse of some items (S1), substitution with biodegradable or biobased materials (S2), use of recycled content (S3), recycling of waste packaging (S4), and an integrated approach (S5), which combines all measures. Results indicated a considerably heightened material circularity. The MCI was at its lowest with a value of 0.10 in S0 (Landfill). In S1, circularity increased to 0.25 (Reuse), and 0.33 in S2 (Biobased/Biodegradable Alternatives), while S3 (Recycled Content) gave a slight improvement (MCI = 0.14). Of the analysed scenarios, the integrated scenario (S5) had the highest circularity (MCI = 0.85). Accounting for packaging waste reduces the MCI to 0.51, reflecting lower circularity owing to the short-lived nature of packaging materials despite high recycling rates. In general, the results show that reuse and biobased adoption can significantly enhance circularity. The study contributes to the implementation of circular economy measures in laboratories in an original and practice-oriented way by adapting the MCI framework to research laboratories.
Açıklama
Anahtar Kelimeler
[Keyword Not Available]
Kaynak
Euro-Mediterranean Journal for Environmental Integration
WoS Q Değeri
Q3
Scopus Q Değeri
Q2
Cilt
11
Sayı
4
