BGS laboratories become first in UKRI to receive gold LEAF accreditation
BGS achieved gold certification in the Laboratory Efficiency Assessment Framework (LEAF) accreditation in March 2023.
28/03/2023
On a global scale, laboratories are responsible for around two per cent of global plastic waste (Urbina et al., 2015) and use three to ten times more energy than a typical office. The Laboratory Efficiency Assessment Framework (LEAF) is an initiative developed by University College London (UCL) and is a standard awarded to laboratories that can successfully demonstrate practical steps towards improved efficiency and sustainability.
BGS is committed to reducing its impact on the environment and this involves participation across the whole organisation. We identified LEAF as a driving tool to be able to do this within our laboratories; making them more sustainable is a commitment within the overarching BGS Environmental Sustainability Strategy, which identified the labs as an energy-intensive area. It has allowed us to drive behavioural change and provide awareness to continue to reduce our environmental impacts.
Leah Crosby, BGS Environmental and Sustainability Advisor.
The LEAF accreditation
LEAF consists of three levels — bronze, silver and gold — all of which contain actions that laboratory users can take to improve sustainability, such as reducing waste and energy use, recycling more and improving laboratory practices so laboratories can operate in an increasingly sustainable way.

LEAF logo courtesy of University College London.
LEAF at BGS
Bronze accreditation, which BGS achieved in 2021, involves raising awareness of the actions people can take, for example switching off laboratory equipment when it is not in use. The silver award, which BGS received in 2022, is awarded for advancing procedures and policies and following best practice in laboratory sustainability. The new gold award, which BGS is the first in UKRI to receive, has been given following implementation of the LEAF principles across thirteen laboratory groups from our Keyworth and Wallingford sites.
The gold accreditation included embedding sustainability in all aspects of our laboratories and expanding the LEAF principles across the office spaces shared by the labs. Gold LEAF accreditation has enabled us to promote a wider sustainability culture in BGS and a vehicle to share good practise across our laboratories and with our stakeholders.
Angela Lamb, BGS Stable Isotope Research Scientist.
Following the framework’s principles ensures that these practices, such as structural changes in our data storage and laboratory management systems, will continue to be effective in the long term.

Instead of throwing away single-use nitrile gloves — one lab group alone used over 15 000 in one year — we now recycle them. We also employ ‘greener’ practices around solvent use, such as accelerated solvent extraction in the organic geochemistry lab to reduce the amount of solvents we use.
Nicola Atkinson, BGS Isotope Support Scientist.
Acknowledgement
Laboratory staff collaborated and worked with other areas in BGS, including the estates and facilities team, BGS Informatics and the workshops, to achieve the gold accreditation and embed sustainability in all ways of working within our labs.
More information
Urbina, M, Watts, A, and Reardon, E. 2015. Labs should cut plastic waste too. Nature, Vol. 528, 479. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/528479c
About the author

Lina Hannaford
BGS Editor
Relative topics
Related news

The optimisation of plutonium separation
07/11/2023
BGS research leads to advancements in the detection of plutonium and ultimately the determination of soil erosion rates in tropical soils.

Antarctic mountain named in honour of BGS scientist
06/11/2023
BGS’s Ian Millar has been honoured for his geological research in Antarctica by having a mountain on the continent named after him.

Industry-leading data sharing partnership announced
02/11/2023
A data sharing partnership has been agreed between BGS and Ossian, allowing BGS to advance its knowledge of the rock and soil conditions under the seabed.

TerraFIRMA
TerraFIRMA is a five-year, NERC-funded, Multi-Centre National Capability (MCNC) UKRI award running from April 2022 to March 2027

Good practice for sand mining
24/10/2023
Tom Bide and Clive Mitchell outline how BGS is working on geoscience-led solutions for the global issue of sand mining.

BGS laboratory spotlight: isotopes as recorders of climate and environmental change
06/09/2023
How measuring oxygen and carbon isotopes in tiny fossils improves our understanding of past climate.

Midlands Innovation TALENT placement at BGS
15/08/2023
Jodie Brown revisits her time at BGS’s Stable Isotope Facility as part of the Midlands Innovation TALENT project, which aims to increase the status of technicians.

New report assesses deep geothermal energy in the UK
17/07/2023
A new BGS report assesses the current situation around and future potential of deep geothermal energy in the UK.

Living in a world made of sand
17/07/2023
Tom Bide and Clive Mitchell outline the BGS Sand and Sustainability project, which is working on geoscience-led solutions for the global issue of sand mining.

Updated biosphere map for the UK released
07/07/2023
The updated biosphere map for the UK will allow users to identify sulphur isotope variations.

NERC recognised by the Carbon Trust for its step towards net zero
07/06/2023
The Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) has achieved the ‘taking action’ tier of the Carbon Trust’s Route to Net Zero Standard.

New report on the National Land Data Programme published
06/06/2023
The report, based on pilot projects across the UK, explains how spatial data and modelling can support better decisions on land use.