Congratulations to Viviana Shiffman, a PHD Student who has received UBC’s Green Lab Funding for her project, Nitrile Neutral. The UBC Green Labs Fund is awarded to labs across UBC campuses in Vancouver and Okanagan that propose innovative and achievable projects to enhance sustainability in their lab environments. Viviana’s project, Nitrile Neutral, was one of eight projects that was recognized and received funding last year!
Can you describe what Nitrile Neutral is in detail?
Nitrile Neutral is a Lab Green–funded sustainability initiative designed to reduce laboratory waste by diverting single-use nitrile gloves from landfill through a dedicated recycling program.
In many research and teaching labs, nitrile gloves are considered unavoidable consumables and are typically disposed of as general waste. Nitrile Neutral addresses this gap by introducing clearly labeled glove-only recycling bins into our lab space, making sustainable disposal easy and accessible.
By integrating glove recycling into everyday lab workflows, the project promotes environmentally responsible research practices and contributes to a circular economy for lab consumables, while also increasing awareness of sustainability within the kinesiology research community.
Can you describe the process-how specifically, will the used gloves be turned into new materials?
Used nitrile gloves are collected in designated, pre-approved recycling boxes that are specifically intended for glove-only waste. Once a box is full, it is shipped to a Canadian processing facility through TerraCycle.
At the facility, the gloves are sorted to remove contaminants, then cleaned and mechanically processed. The material is shredded and melted into plastic pellets, which can be remanufactured into new plastic products such as industrial components, outdoor materials, or shipping supplies. This process prevents gloves from entering landfills while transforming a traditionally non-recyclable waste stream into reusable raw material.
What are some key outcomes you anticipate (or have achieved) with this initiative?
Nitrile Neutral has integrated eco-friendly waste management practices into our daily lab operations and have actively engaged lab members in sustainable practices. Over the first nine months of implementation, the project has successfully recycled over 2,775 nitrile gloves.
By the end of the program, we anticipate having recycled over 4,500 nitrile gloves. Furthermore, the initiative encourages lab members to think critically about waste streams that are often overlooked in exercise physiology research environments.
Do you see this model expanding to other UBC Kin labs or teaching spaces?
Yes, this model is transferable and well-suited for expansion into other UBC Kinesiology research labs and teaching spaces. The initiative is innovative in that it introduces a closed-loop recycling solution for nitrile gloves, supported by clear standards of practice and minimal disruption to existing lab workflows.
With the development of shared guidelines, signage, and training materials, the program could be readily adopted by additional departments. In the long term, this approach has the potential to scale beyond kinesiology and contribute to a broader, campus-wide sustainable glove disposal program at UBC.
What are your future goals/plans with Nitrile Neutral?
The long-term goal of Nitrile Neutral is sustained support for implementation across UBC Kin, which directly supports UBC’s Zero Waste Action Plan. Beyond glove recycling, Nitrile Neutral also serves as a starting point for broader conversations around waste reduction in research settings, encouraging students, faculty, and staff to identify and address other overlooked sources of environmental impact within laboratory environments.
We thank Viviana for sharing her project with us. We also thank Chloe Mathews for her contributions to the Nitrile Neutral initiative and everyone who played a part by recycling their gloves!
