By Marika Da Prato (Masters in Sustainability management), Sustainability contact at Amsbio
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Sustainability is becoming increasingly important, with a growing number of companies in the industry striving for carbon neutrality and enhancing their environmental commitments. At Amsbio, we believe sustainability is more than just a goal: it’s a shared responsibility.
Throughout 2024, we have been laying the foundation for a long-term sustainability roadmap that reflects our values and the expectations of the life science community, towards a more responsible and sustainable future for our company.
Understanding Where We Are: Internal and External Insights
To build a responsible path forwards, we started by listening.
We conducted both external and internal surveys to understand the industry trends and guage the commitments of our suppliers and partners, as well as the vies and efforts of our own team.
Key findings from our external supplier survey:
which provided us with a clearer vision of the shared objectives we should pursue. It became evident that, in the Life Sciences industry, an increasing number of businesses are integrating practices and initiatives aimed at reducing their carbon footprint and enhancing their environmental impact.
- 55% of Ambsio’s top suppliers believe that sustainability is important.
- 30% of our top suppliers have a formal sustainability strategy or policy in place.
- The remaining 70%, while lacking a formal plan or strategy, are alrady taking steps, including:
- Reducing Scope 1, 2, and 3 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2030
- Increasing renewable energy usage
- Obtaining the My Green Lab Certification
- Enhancing recycling and reuse
- Reducing operational waste
Key findings from our internal survey
Internally, we discovered encouraging signs of awareness and commitment among our employees
- 92% of our employees actively recycle at home; 76% do so in the office.
- 68% of respondents strive to minimize the use of printed paper in the office.
- Reducing energy consumption, such as turning off unnecessary lights, is also a widely adopted behaviour.
These insights have helped us build a sustainability roadmap that aligns with our current status and partners’ iniatives. Our ultimate goal is to improve our performance, to meet the expectations of the market and of our environmentally conscious consumers.
Tackling Waste and Waste Management
From the internal audit, we discovered that, one of the main concerns is the waste generated in our processes, such as office waste and packaging waste.
Almost 70% of our employees identified the packing process as the most wasteful. For this reason, the first aspect we assessed was our waste management practices.
Waste Management System
We implemented our first comprehensive waste management system in our Netherlands office, with plans to extend it to our head office in the United Kingdom and our office in the USA.
This achievement was made possible, in part, thanks to government support. Specifically, as part of a national sustainability initiative, the Dutch government promotes and provides free recycling services for companies and schools through a dedicated platform: Afval Goed Geregeld. This program ensures the proper disposal of packaging materials (plastics, beverage cartons, etc.) and helps boost the country’s recycling rate.
Reducing Product Waste through Partnership
We also identified another significant source of waste: expired or nearly expired products and excess inventory.
To combat this, AMSBIO recently initiated a collaboration with Wasteless Bio (Wasteless | Home), a company whose mission is to bring the healthcare industry closer to 100% utilization of consumables and instruments while reducing its environmental impact.
As Wastless Bio state in their mission:
“Once manufactured, we want the product to be used to treat cancer, instead of expiring on the shelf or being emptied down the drain. This will enable young researchers with constrained budgets to conduct more analysis rather than seeing valuable products go to waste.”
This collaboration is an ongoing project. We are actively listing products to their platform that would otherwise have been discarded: turning waste into opportunity for underfunded labs and researchers.
Supporting Circularity with Take-Back Programs
We’re also enhancing circularity in our processes by participating in thermometer return schemes from suppliers like Sensitech and ELPRO. These programs offer up to 80%* carbon footprint reduction by recycling these devices instead of discarding them.
Greener Products, Greener Labs
Beyond operational improvements, we’re working to make out portfolio more sustainable,
- Some of our products are available in a lyophilized or freeze-dried format, which reduces the need for dry ice during transportation and lowering energy consumption for storage, as the requirements for -20°C or -80°C conditions are minimized.
- We offer animal-free options of some products. This is also another crucial aspect when engaging in sustainability practices, supporting the 3Rs of animal usage in scientific research.
Eco-Friendly Products
See our blog featuring products to help you reduce your environmental impact, updated for 2025
Looking Forwards: Comittment and Progress
Sustainability is not about getting everything right from day one. When discussing sustainability, it is crucial to remember that it is about making continuous progress and improvement, listening to stakeholders and acting on what we learn. Every step, no matter how big or small, can make a meaningful difference.
To support these efforts, we are proud to be part of the EcoVadis community, earning a commitment badge.
Through this platform, we can share our performance while enhancing our networking opportunities. Thanks to EcoVadis, we are currently in the process of estimating our carbon footprint and identify where our impact lies.
Join Us on This Journey
We’re just getting started, but every step counts. If you’d like to stay informed about our sustainability efforts and new product initiatives, sign up for our newsletter at the bottom of this page.