More Sustainable Products

Let's make science more sustainable. Together.

There’s now an eco-friendlier alternative to our standard purification kits. Say hello to QIAwave.

The lab waste challenge

We’re all familiar with images of plastics in the oceans, and many of us have changed how we recycle as a result. The need to be more sustainable and protect the environment is a hot topic in general, and certainly in science where research still generates large amounts of plastic and cardboard waste.

In an ideal world, every scientist would be working in a zero-waste, green lab that’s fully sustainable. But we all know this is a huge long-term challenge, especially when single-use plastics and ultracold freezers are needed for certain sensitive experiments. Still, small changes can go a long way. That’s why we’ve taken a more eco-minded approach to the way we develop our nucleic acid extraction kits.

That’s right. We’re making sample extraction a little greener.

Watch the video to see how our new QIAwave Kits can help you reduce plastic and cardboard waste compared to our standard kits every time you prep.

QIAwave RNA Mini Kit (based on our standard RNeasy Mini Kit) for total RNA isolation
QIAwave DNA Blood & Tissue Kit (based on our standard DNeasy Blood & Tissue Kit) for genomic DNA isolation
QIAwave Plasmid Miniprep Kit (based on our standard QIAprep Spin Miniprep Kit) for plasmid DNA isolation

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Did you know?

According to a study published in Nature, around 5.5 million tons of plastic waste are produced every year in life science laboratories across the globe. That’s roughly the combined tonnage of 67 cruise liners.

It starts with more eco-friendly packaging

As part of our overall sustainability initiatives, our goal is to minimize our environmental impact by reducing, reusing and recycling wherever possible.

To get started, we’ve created more eco-friendly packaging for our three most popular purification kits and named them QIAwave. So when you choose a QIAwave Kit over a standard kit, you get the same excellent results and a lot less waste.

Meet the new kits

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QIAwave offers the same great results for less clutter and waste, with minimal effort. I can only imagine that the benefits and savings would be even greater on the scale of a full lab. So, I will definitely be recommending QIAwave to my peers.

Bryce Carpenter, Research Specialist, University of Pennsylvania

How can you benefit?

Smaller kit boxes use up to 63% less plastic and up to 42% less cardboard compared to our standard kits.
Buffer concentrates use up to 86% less plastic per bottle compared to our standard buffers.
Reusable Waste Tubes made from 100% post-consumer recycled plastic.

See all the benefits of QIAwave in our free infographic.

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Concentrated buffers

QIAwave Kits come with new buffer concentrates, saving up to 86% plastic per bottle compared to our standard buffers. Watch the video to see how to reconstitute the buffers in four simple steps.

Reusable Waste Tubes

We’ve replaced our standard Collection Tubes with new Waste Tubes made from 100% recycled plastic that you can reuse throughout the procedure without causing cross-contamination. Watch the video to see how easy it is to reuse the Waste Tubes.

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The QIAwave Kits slightly reduce waste through reusable waste tubes and buffer concentrates. The relatively minor inconvenience is offset by the percentage reduction in plastic. I look forward to seeing more innovations to help reduce the footprint of biomedical research.

George Chao, Postdoctoral Fellow, Harvard Medical School

Wave goodbye to excess packaging

Our QIAwave Kits use up to 42% less cardboard than our standard kits, and because they’re so compact, they take up less precious storage space. What’s more, we’re no longer adding printed protocols to our kits. Instead, they’ll be available online to download whenever you need them. Just scan the QR code inside the box or visit our product page.

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Be the first know

The journey to more sustainable science has just begun, and we hope you’re as excited as us to be a part of it. We can’t wait to share more environmentally friendly products and innovations with you. Sign up to get the latest updates, releases and news.

Meet the products

What’s new at QIAGEN and beyond?

Let’s talk about sustainability
Heather Worsley, from our global sustainability team, shares her thoughts on how QIAGEN is addressing environmental issues.
READ MORE
How to make your lab more eco-friendly
Dr. Markus Sprenger-Haussels, head of QIAGEN Sample Tech R&D, talks about QIAwave and offers top tips for reducing waste and energy usage in the lab.
READ MORE
Recycling card
Your guide to recycling QIAGEN kit components and reducing plastic waste in your lab.
Download now