Supplier Highlight: Novas Bio
We work to improve the happiness of scientists, and one path to do this is to help scientists spend their money with suppliers who have values that resonate with them. There are scientists who want to buy from suppliers that value sustainability. The problem is…if we ask the average scientist to name scientific suppliers that value sustainability, you’ll often hear crickets.
Name one scientific supplier that values sustainability?
Say hello to Novas Bio.
Novas Bio is a manufacturer of lab consumables (pipette tips, tubes, and plates) founded by the team that brought Axygen to the world 20+ years ago (eventually sold to Corning). Although these products are plastic, and inherently bad for the environment, Novas Bio takes a different approach to sustainability in the lab. Instead of telling scientists some B.S. story about “green” plastics, they might be honest with the fact that they make an unsustainable product, but they overcome it by continuously analyzing processes and products to improve sustainability by decreasing the energy footprint of their operations. From day 0 of their creation, this has been a focus point. Some of the changes they have implemented to achieve this are:
Optimized operations: they recycle 100% of polypropylene byproduct from PCR supply production; their deep well plates and pipette tips are made with 30% recycled materials, and their pipette tip racks are made from 100% recycled materials.
Environmentally-friendly packaging: they manufacture refill rack systems for non-filtered pipette tips that are 100% FSC certified, which means their packaging boxes come from 100% responsibly managed forests.
Reduced packaging: they reduce the packaging of PCR plates from 36% to 67% by removing unnecessary chipboard, saving nearly 1 ton of chipboard paper annually and eliminating the energy used during the distribution of that chipboard.
Removal of harmful ingredients: they decided to discontinue their colored microcentrifuge tube line due to the environmental impact - color pigments are worse for the environment, more difficult to manufacture, and are a challenge to recycle.
HappiLabs appreciates all of the efforts from Novas Bio to make the scientific world more sustainable and eco-friendly. For the remainder of 2024 HappiLabs will donate $5 to Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) for every order of Novas Bio products from our online store.
UPDATE: FEBRUARY 1 2025
To show our appreciation for Novas Bio’s sustainability efforts and to help make science more eco-friendly, we pledged to donate $5 from every order for Novas Bio products in our online store. During Q4 of 2024 we had 9 orders for Novas Bio products. These orders included products such as 96-well Deep Well Plates, 96-well PCR plates, 8-Strip PCR Tubes, clear sealing film, and microcentrifuge tubes. Therefore, we have donated $45 to the Forest Stewardship Council. Thank you to all of the scientists for your support in this initiative!
