Three Ways Gilson MLH Continues to Reduce Industrial Waste

Gilson is committed to sustainability and is continuously looking for ways to improve its carbon footprint. Gilson MLH in Villiers-le-bel, France, this year aims to recycle 80% of the waste in the manufacturing plant. Here are three main areas we’re focusing on to hit our goal.

Sorting Waste to Recycle

Different waste-sorting areas and containers have been set across the plant to clearly separate common and special industrial waste, including containers for colored and transparent plastic, paper, and metal, giving these items a second life to serve a new purpose and save natural resources. Paolo Brito, Gilson MLH Facilities Manager, said: “Our sorted waste is managed through companies from the recycling industry. It not only saves us money in waste management, but we can get some money back by selling them the sorted waste. The entire process can be invalid if the sorting is not done properly, and in this case, Gilson will have to pay the partner for the waste management. That’s why it’s important to pay attention when sorting waste.”

Recycling Pipette Tips

Gilson MLH specializes in manual liquid handling, and our quality, testing, and evaluation teams at this site, as well as pipette calibration teams, use a lot of pipette tips for their activities. The pipettes are tested and calibrated using water, so the tips are not contaminated. Recycling these small plastic parts and their boxes is a huge opportunity to reduce waste.

Less Than 20% Ordinary Industrial Waste

We aim to reduce our Ordinary Industrial Waste (OIW) to less than 20%. This new requirement for the teams at Gilson MLH means reducing the amount of waste that ends up in a landfill or incinerator. “We strive to sort as many items as possible, and the next step will be to extend waste-sorting to product scrapping,” said Paolo.

We are Committed to Sustainability & Giving Back Initiatives

Gilson has been around for 75 years and counting, and sustainability is in our genes. Our involvement in protecting the environment extends to our financial resources, operations, employees, suppliers, customers, and the communities we live and work in daily. We make a meaningful impact by helping scientists advance the pace of their discovery. We also foster opportunities for our employees to feel more engaged by giving back to their communities. Each year we come together on a variety of causes the company and our employees care about and donate to support advances in research, including:

• Medical research for treatments and cures for the world’s most prevalent diseases
• Scientific education at all levels
• Global, equitable access to scientific tools and lab equipment
• Local, employee-led initiatives to improve our communities

Learn more about our sustainability initiatives here.