Starlab’s Sustainability Weeks 2025: from symbolism to the reality of a circular economy.
Author:
Vanessa Whight
Marketing Manager , Products
and Green Officer, Starlab
Key topics: Sustainability, webinars, laboratory plastic waste, TipOne® closed-loop recycling service, passionate for science
Category: GreenLabs
Date: 23/09/2025
Moving beyond symbols: concrete steps toward sustainability.
This year's event series will take place from 6 to 17 October 2025, focusing on closed-loop recycling for laboratory plastics.
While previous years placed particular emphasis on symbolic cacti-planting into TipOne® racks, in 2025 the practical implementation of a functioning circular economy comes to the fore. The events will demonstrate in concrete terms how the TipOne® recycling system works, and why closed-loop recycling systems are the gold standard for sustainability.
“More than 2,000 laboratories are already collecting the TipOne® system components for our recycling programme. Now we can close the material loop and show that the collected materials are genuinely being turned into new TipOne® racks,” explains Klaus Ambos, President & CEO of Starlab International. “They carry this motivation through into the Sustainability Weeks, where they act as ambassadors, passing their enthusiasm and expertise on to our local laboratories.”
The company is planning numerous on-site events, to be held in smaller groups to allow for more in-depth discussions about sustainability strategies. Instead of delivering ‘lectures’, the Starlab team engages in consultative conversations to develop tailored solutions for more sustainable working – an approach that is central to the values of the company.
These personal visits are complemented by an international webinar series entitled ‘Beyond greenwashing: effective strategies for lab recycling and real sustainability’. The online events highlight the differences between open- and closed-loop recycling systems and will also provide practical guidance on how to identify greenwashing when making purchasing choices.
The Sustainability Weeks also serve as a platform to encourage more laboratories to join the recycling system. "The beauty of a circular economy is that it works better the more people take part", says Ambos. "Every laboratory that collects its TipOne® components strengthens the environmental impact for everyone else. That’s genuine collaboration for sustainability."
This year’s event series also marks a strategic realignment: from 2026, Starlab will move the series to spring. "Our customers have told us that May is a better time for sustainability topics than the busy autumn", explains Ambos. "In 2026, the popular planting activities will also return – as a complement to the established circular economy."
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