The Life Sciences Company based on the University of Southampton Science Park in Hampshire, has announced the winners of this year’s Helix Sustainability Awards.

The awards are in their sixth year and celebrate the sustainability efforts made by leading academic, clinical, and commercial customers in the Life Sciences Sector. Helix is an onsite RFID (Radio Frequency ID) laboratory product storage system, used to support scientists with their research. The awards are made based on calculations which consider the number of individual shipments saved, as well as the associated packaging and dry ice use.
 
The three winners are:

1. John Innes Centre, Norwich
2. NHS Wales, Cardiff
3. The University of Manchester

By using Helix and consolidating orders, the top five organisations have reduced deliveries by over 1335 consignments, minimising packaging, reducing the use of dry ice as well as reducing carbon emissions through transport.

Commenting on their Gold Helix Award, the team from the John Innes Centre, based in Norwich, said,

“We are delighted to have won the Helix Sustainability Award. The John Innes Centre is committed to sustainability and we welcome the opportunities to reduce our footprint thanks to partnerships with key suppliers like Promega. The award recognises the efforts of our Procurement and Stores teams to reduce environmental impacts in supporting the research carried out at the University.”

Fiona Marshall, Head of Public Sector Sales at Promega said of the Helix programme,

“At Promega, our commitment to sustainability is ingrained in our business vision. We continuously strive to address our sustainability goals and support those of our customers in this crucial area. By tracking and monitoring our progress in key actionable areas, we ensure transparency and accountability. HelixTM, remains one of our many actionable areas. It enables consolidation of orders which reduces shipping materials, dry ice usage, and the associated impact from the courier industry. We greatly appreciate the collaborative efforts of those recognised by these awards and the efforts these university teams have taken to enhance procurement through consignment stock solutions. Small steps by everyone will enable us all to reach our future goals.”

Helix cabinets, fridges and freezers are supplied free of charge by Promega to store products onsite at customer locations, reducing the need for shipments of reagents and assays needed by scientists. Researchers simply swipe a card, or use a phone app, to access what is needed for their work, even in the middle of the night. Each item has a ‘RFID’ tag on it for replenishment purposes to keep the system working efficiently.

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About Promega

Promega Corporation is a leader in providing innovative solutions and technical support to the life sciences industry. The company’s portfolio of over 4,000 products support a range of life science work across areas such as cell biology; DNA, RNA and protein analysis; drug development; human identification and molecular diagnostics. For over 40 years these tools and technologies have grown in their application and are used today by scientists and technicians in labs for academic and government research, forensics, pharmaceuticals, clinical diagnostics and agricultural and environmental testing. Promega is headquartered in Madison, WI, USA with branches in 16 countries and over 50 global distributors. 

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