Environment and sustainable development at OnkPat
Like all governmental organizations in Sweden, Karolinska Institutet has developed an action plan to protect the environment and promote sustainable development. As part of a global effort to minimize the environmental impact of our activities, we at OnkPat adhere to KI’s guidelines in our annual plan. This plan includes concrete actions to conserve energy, reduce pollution and waste, and mitigate health risks associated with our laboratory operations.
Introduction
The Environment and Sustainable Development Representative, or Miljö- och hållbarhetsombud in Swedish, plays a crucial role in promoting and communicating sustainability efforts within OnkPat. This representative is responsible for engaging all staff in initiatives that support a sustainable work environment while adhering to the environmental and sustainability guidelines set by Karolinska Institutet. A concise overview of these guidelines is available in the video One KI for Sustainable Development below.
Karolinska Institutet has outlined several key goals for research and education based on significant environmental aspects, including energy consumption, travel, procurement, purchasing, lab safety, chemical use, and waste management. KI’s climate strategy and action plan aim to raise awareness of the climate crisis and minimize the environmental impact of our activities. At KI, it is essential for all employees to be informed about this program, and the OnkPat representative is responsible for developing and implementing a tailored departmental plan, which can be found below.
In addition, the Environment and Sustainable Development Representative is an active member of the Work Environment Group at OnkPat, where we collaborate to strengthen the link between workplace safety and sustainability. Our approach is rooted in the concept of Planetary health, which recognizes that the health and well-being of human civilization are intrinsically connected to the health of natural systems and all life on our planet.
Major Work Areas
Research
- reduce the environmental impact of our research activities
- minimize health and environmental risks from the laboratory activities
- reduce waste and increase recycling
Education and Information
- acquire "competence" at all levels of sustainable development in education and research
- systematically acquire statistics and measurements, including energy use and environmental impact from travel
- through organization and management, enable systematic work with environment and sustainability issues
Environmental requirements in Procurement and Purchases
To reduce KI’s negative environmental impact, relevant environmental requirements are essential in procurements and purchases. Accordingly, each group should set environmental and sustainability requirements for purchases and direct procurement (which are outside of existing KI Frame agreements). Listed below are the guidelines to be used by group and team leaders and the purchasing officers:
- Follow KI’s travel policy
- For purchases and direct procurement of instruments, set requirements for:
- energy declarations
- packaging and transport declarations
- guarantees for long-term maintenance, such as service contracts and parts’ replacement possibilities
- To spare resources, consider:
- investing in shared instruments or consumables; Contact the infrastructure group at OnkPat. OnkPat has a policy to invest in shared instruments and core facilities to reduce purchases for each individual research group and, through joint investments, enable high quality and long-term maintenance.
- purchasing used instruments or furniture.
For help, contact Katja Pokrovskaja or Paula Mannström and ensure direct contact with Environmental coordinators, Procurement office and Environmental council at KI.
Katja Tamm
Environment and sustainable development representativeWe can make a difference!