Our customers are increasingly moving from stainless steel systems to disposable technologies for the lower risk of contamination, reduced cleaning and validation requirements, and increased flexibility. Single-use systems also carry environmental impacts associated with their disposal, however, and we are committed to understanding these impacts and helping our customers address them. We conduct life cycle assessment (LCA) on selected product lines to assess the environmental impacts associated with material sourcing, manufacturing, use, and disposal. The LCA on our Mobius® single-use product assembly line—which can replace parts of a fixed, stainless steel bioreactor process chain—determined that the single-use products help to decrease customer energy use, reduce wastewater, and avoid caustic cleaners needed to steam clean steel equipment. Notably, single-use products require 175% less water than stainless steel.

For more information on how your facility can use our single-use products, or to better understand Merck Millipore’s LCA process, contact us.

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