Labs Are Driving More Carbon Than You Think. And That’s the Point.

Most lab managers don’t wake up thinking about carbon math.

You think about uptime. Budgets. Keeping scientists productive. Making sure nothing breaks at 2 a.m.

That’s why this matters.

A recent industry report makes something very clear. The biggest source of emissions in biotech and pharma no longer comes from factories or office buildings. It comes from the supply chain. And labs sit right in the middle of it.

This post breaks down what the data actually says. What it means for day-to-day lab operations. And why small changes at the bench matter more than most people realize.

This article draws from LabReNew’s companion brief to The Carbon Impact of Biotech & Pharma report by My Green Lab and Intercontinental Exchange.

A LabReNew companion brief to t…

The real source of emissions isn’t where most labs are looking

When people talk about emissions, they usually picture smokestacks or power plants.

That mental image is outdated.

Across biotech and pharma, 75 to 88 percent of emissions now come from Scope 3. These are indirect emissions tied to purchased goods, services, vendors, and outsourced work.

Zoom in further and it gets more specific.

Roughly 80 percent of those Scope 3 emissions come from purchased goods and services.

Pipette tips. Reagents. Freezers. Single-use plastics. Contract research. Equipment you never see on an energy bill.

Most labs don’t track this. Not because they don’t care. Because no one ever told them it mattered.

Now it does.

Why labs carry outsized impact

Labs are not offices with microscopes.

They run hotter. Louder. Longer.

Data from multiple industry sources shows that labs can use up to ten times more energy and four times more water than a typical office space of the same size.

That’s before you count cold storage, fume hoods, autoclaves, or 24/7 equipment loads.

This is why lab operations are now part of the UN Race to Zero 2030 Breakthrough agenda. It’s also why sustainability teams at large pharma companies are looking upstream, toward the labs they work with.

If you manage a lab, your operational choices are no longer invisible.

This isn’t only a big pharma problem

Large pharmaceutical companies are making progress. Slowly.

But the report shows something uncomfortable. Emissions are still rising across smaller and private labs, including startups, shared lab spaces, CROs, CDMOs, and academic labs with commercial partnerships.

That matters because these labs sit inside supply chains that larger companies are under pressure to clean up.

If your lab supports discovery, diagnostics, manufacturing, or research services, you’re already part of someone else’s Scope 3 footprint.

Whether that shows up in a contract or an RFP today or next year is mostly timing.

What this means for lab managers, not sustainability teams

Most labs don’t have a sustainability lead. Or a budget line for this work.

That’s fine.

The labs that make real progress usually start somewhere else.

They focus on how the lab actually runs.

Things like:

• Equipment left on when no one is using it
• Freezers colder than necessary
• Fume hoods open by habit
• Water running during cleaning cycles that don’t need it
• Disposable materials used out of routine, not need

None of this requires a new department. It requires attention.

And here’s the part people often miss.

Labs that fix these things usually save money. Not later. Now.

Lower energy loads. Fewer consumables. Less waste hauling. Fewer emergency replacements.

This is one of the rare areas where operational discipline lines up with environmental outcomes.

Why early action helps labs, not just the planet

There’s a quiet shift happening.

Sustainability questions are starting to show up in supplier reviews. In procurement conversations. In partnership discussions.

Not everywhere. Not all at once.

But labs that act early tend to land in a better spot.

They’re easier to work with. Easier to justify internally. Easier to keep on approved vendor lists.

They also avoid scrambling later when expectations harden into requirements.

Being ready beats being reactive.

You don’t need perfection to start

A common blocker sounds like this:

“We’re too small.”
“We don’t have data.”
“We don’t want to get it wrong.”

The truth is, lab-scale action is one of the fastest ways to cut emissions today.

The labs with the biggest gains usually do four things:

1. Improve daily lab practices tied to energy, water, and waste
2. Build better habits into how scientists work
3. Pay attention to what they buy and how often
4. Get familiar with the programs their partners already trust

Progress comes from consistency, not grand plans.

Where LabReNew fits in

This is where LabReNew focuses its work.

Not on abstract targets. Not on glossy reports.

On helping labs, especially early-stage and under-resourced ones, take steps that actually stick.

That usually means helping labs:

• Understand why sustainability matters to them
• Choose actions backed by science, not marketing claims
• Connect with programs the industry already respects, such as My Green Lab Certification and the International Institute for Sustainable Labs Labs2Zero program
• Prepare for future expectations without overbuilding too early

The goal isn’t to turn labs into sustainability experts.

It’s to help them run better labs.

One thing worth sitting with

The future of life science sustainability doesn’t hinge on a handful of large corporations.

It hinges on thousands of labs making small, repeatable choices every day.

If you manage a lab, that puts you closer to the center of this story than you might think.

And that’s not a burden.

It’s leverage you didn’t know you had.

‍