2021 - Green Programs Green Fund

The UQ Green Fund’s application process was modified this year to make it easier for staff and students wishing to apply for the funding of smaller projects.

UQ’s Green Fund provided funding support for postdoctoral fellow Dr Jos Kistemaker’s idea to reduce plastic syringe waste in the School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences.

The project entailed the construction of a solid loader tube to fit into the chromatography machine in the School of Chemistry.

The chromatography machine usually required hundreds of disposable syringes to be used each year when loading and extracting materials, however, the new loader changed the process so that disposable syringes were no longer necessary.

This project has resulted in more than 500 syringes being saved from waste every year in this lab.

Read more about Disposable plastics reduced at chem lab thanks to sustainability grant