We are delighted that all of our research groups have achieved their LEAF Bronze! They have all made a huge effort in improving sustainability in their groups and services. 

Cancer Research UK is committed to reducing direct and indirect emissions by 50% by 2030 and reaching net zero by 2050. As part of this commitment, the CRUK Scotland Institute’s labs are all working towards gaining their Laboratory Efficiency Assessment Framework (LEAF) Certification at the Silver Level by January 2026 with the aim to improve the sustainability and efficiency of our research labs.

Our groups have all began working through the LEAF criteria and are now all LEAF Bronze accredited with some well on their way to gaining their LEAF Silver, special congratulations to Zoi Diamantopoulou’s group for already achieving theirs! 

Each group has created a Sustainability Induction process for new members of their group as well as a process to ensure that leavers’ materials are documented meaning that no frozen or chilled items are left unmanaged and all items such as blocks, slides, chemicals and reagents are catalogued in some way to minimise waste. In addition, equipment is now routinely turned off after use and ULT freezers are being reset to -70, all contributing to significant energy savings.

This has been a huge team effort, thank you to all of our LEAF representatives who have worked hard to lead their teams through the process and our auditors: Karen Thomas, Nikola Vlahov and Silvia Martinelli. Our groups are now excited to get started on their LEAF Silver, so watch this space!