This year’s event series will take place from 6 to 17 October 2025, focusing on closed-loop recycling for laboratory plastics

Following the successful launch of the first TipOne® racks made with TipOne recycled plastic in July, Starlab International is continuing its sustainability mission with determination: the seventh Sustainability Weeks are entirely dedicated to the circular economy. From 6 to 17 October 2025, Starlab staff will once again visit laboratories across Europe to inform about sustainable laboratory practices – this time with a particular focus on recycling systems in the lab.

Moving Beyond Symbols: Concrete Steps Toward Sustainability

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 their 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 of Starlab International GmbH.

Consultative Approach Meets Practical Expertise

The company is planning numerous on-site events across the UK, 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 our headquarters in Milton Keynes.

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.’

Sustainability Weeks 2026 in Spring

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.’

About Starlab

Starlab International GmbH is a life science group of companies. It specialises in the manufacture and distribution of laboratory products – with a focus on liquid handling. The company is represented in Germany, with headquarters in Hamburg, Switzerland, France, Italy and the United Kingdom, as well as through distributors throughout Europe. The product portfolio includes laboratory consumables such as pipette tips, single-channel and multi-channel pipettes, cell culture and PCR consumables, nitrile and latex gloves, and instruments for general laboratory use. A pipette service for all makes and manufacturers rounds off the offer. Starlab's products and services are aimed at research institutions in the public sector such as biological and medical institutes, universities and hospitals, as well as companies in the life sciences sector. The company's success is based on customer-oriented solution expertise and many years of experience in liquid handling single-use products. With TipOne®, Starlab is one of the world's leading suppliers of pipette tips. The focus is always on quality, service and price.

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