{"id":22185,"date":"2024-04-12T14:04:39","date_gmt":"2024-04-12T14:04:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ecocycle.org\/?p=22185"},"modified":"2025-12-15T00:28:52","modified_gmt":"2025-12-15T00:28:52","slug":"april-2024-somalogic-spotlight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ecocycle.org\/april-2024-somalogic-spotlight\/","title":{"rendered":"Business Spotlight: SomaLogic Labs Help Pioneer New Recycling Stream"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Learn more about why this biotech company is one to watch in the green space!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Eco-Cycle’s Zero Waste Hauling and Consulting Services<\/a> team works with a sizable roster of local businesses to meet their recycling, composting, and hard-to-recycle hauling needs as well as guiding them toward the cutting edge of sustainable best practices. Many of our customers go above and beyond the requirements of Boulder’s Universal Zero Waste Ordinance, and one such customer is <\/strong>SomaLogic<\/a> (which recently merged with Standard BioTools<\/a>), a Boulder-based biotech company specializing in proteomics, the study of proteins. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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In partnership with Eco-Cycle, SomaLogic nurtures an outstanding ethos around sustainability that culminated in the innovation of a new recycling stream for lab plastics<\/strong> that is now available to other businesses in the area. In addition to this achievement, SomaLogic serves as an excellent model of best practices for other lab-based business endeavors looking to go green. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Problem<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

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The demands of scientific research come with a heavy load of single-use disposable plastics that must be landfilled or collected as nonrecyclable hazardous waste due to coming in contact with biohazards, and\/or being made from mixed materials. When sent to a Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) with other single-stream recyclable materials collected locally, scientific items such as pipette tip trays must be rejected, even if they are made from polypropylene (or plastic #5 PP), a type of plastic that is actually recyclable under local guidelines. This is because recycling facility operators cannot confirm the origin of these products. With no way to verify whether pipette trays were previously in contact with biohazards, they must err on the side of caution and landfill these items.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Solution<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n


To avoid landfilling lab plastics that were never in contact with hazardous waste, SomaLogic and Eco-Cycle partnered up with a local plastics recycler in Denver to turn these materials into recycled plastic \u201cflake\u201d that can be used for the production of items such as automotive parts. SomaLogic now collects their #5 PP pipette tip trays separately from their single-stream recycling, and through a collaborative effort to carefully manage contaminants, the three organizations are able to ensure that a steady stream of clean, recyclable PP product goes from the lab to the recycling plant instead of the landfill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It takes strong communication among all stakeholders to ensure the process flows smoothly, and with that in place, this lab plastics recycling stream provides a glimpse into how sustainably conscious companies like SomaLogic\/Standard BioTools, working with recycling experts at Eco-Cycle, can create a more efficient and environmentally responsible Zero Waste future!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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A post shared by Eco-Cycle (@ecocycle_zerowaste)<\/a><\/p><\/div><\/blockquote>