Sustainability Trends in Sample Management (Sponsored by PulpFixin)

Thank you to SLAS Europe 2026 Sustainability Sponsor, PulpFixin, for sponsoring this episode.

PulpFixin CEO Chad Jenkins returns to discuss the urgent need for sustainable sample management. He presents proven solutions, such as pre-barcoded tubes, standardized racks and new plastic-free alternatives like PulpFixin’s Auto-Rack and Auto-Sleeve, that can save on freezer space and costs, improve data integrity, and divert waste from landfills.

Key Learning Points

• Latest trends in sustainable sample management
• Reducing the impact of necessary plastics
• How to transition from legacy systems to new technologies

About PulpFixin:
PulpFixin is a leading manufacturer of sustainable products and packaging. We are dedicated to eliminating single-use and other unnecessary plastics. Our expertise lies in designing and producing products and packaging from compostable or biodegradable sustainable materials to fully replace traditional plastics, and we welcome you to collaborate with us.

Interested in lab sustainability? Join our Sustainability in Sciences Topical Interest Group!

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Transcript

Emily Yamasaki (00:03)

Hello and welcome to new matter the SLAS podcast. I'm your host Emily Yamasaki and joining me today is Chad Jenkins, CEO of PulpFixin who are the official SLAS Europe 2026 sustainability sponsor. we're going to discuss sustainability in sample management. So Chad, welcome back to the podcast. It's great to have you back.

Chad Jenkins (00:22)

Well, thanks, Emily. It's great to be here. Thanks for having me.

Emily Yamasaki (00:24)

So just to get us started, could you give us a little overview about what the current trends are in simple storage and management today?

Chad Jenkins (00:31)

Sure, yeah, there is certainly a migration happening from legacy or manual sample tracking.

streamlined and automated process for sample tracking. Certainly price and ease of implementation has made it difficult to incorporate into some of these newer workflows. They're not the cheapest methods and they're not always easy to set up, but there's certainly an evolution going towards more automated workflows that are out there. So setting up an automated sample storage management system can be daunting. There's a lot of time, there's equipment.

software, perhaps new lab ware, new processes. It's a lot to get your head around and figure out how do I take this wonderful process and put it into my operations today. It can be really challenging. And I talked to lots of people who want to streamline their samples and get it into a better system, but they struggle with that implementation. That's a real challenge that I see out there. And there's also a movement what people are calling lab of the future.

where everything is tracked and managed with digital twins for all your critical samples and materials that are used in lab operations. This idealistic view of where we could be in a dream world where everything is perfect. But that is becoming more and more a reality today because the technologies and some of the products that are coming to market to make it

So that is happening along with personalized medicine and therapeutics. We need to be able to track samples and materials through their entire life cycle. So traceability from beginning to end is becoming more and more important today as we have to ensure that these medicines, these therapeutics are accurate and correct. So that is happening. And the other thing which has been happening for quite some time is everything's going to plastic.

Everything is using plastic tubes and plastic containers and disposable this and disposable that. So that is a continuing trend. But I would say another new trend is trying to reduce that impact of single-use plastics into sample storage and management systems that are out

Emily Yamasaki (02:41)

Yeah, example management is a crucial aspect industry and particularly in the high throughput space. Why are these trends that you just described so impactful?

Chad Jenkins (02:50)

Because streaming operations is important because of budgets, which are continuing to get squeezed. Departments aren't being funded like they were in past decades. They just don't have the same funding. We have inflation, which is forcing us to do more with less resources and less time. And we don't have the time for manual tracking of samples. We're trying to feed AI databases with good data. This is another important thing that

trying to do and that takes time. And all that data, all that infrastructure is something that is really impactful for what we're trying to accomplish in science. If we're going to evolve it to AI, the data that is going to the systems needs to be accurate, needs to be correct. And we need to be able to log in bad data, just like good data, but that takes time and people don't want to take the time to report all the bad stuff, right? We want to report all the good stuff.

And if it's not streamlined and it's automated, it's not automated. It's really difficult to make that happen. another big problem that we have with current sample storage vessels is that they're primarily made up of plastics. This is a real problem for meeting our sustainability goals and reducing our reliance on fossil fuels. So this is another thing that's very, very impactful for us all.

labeled stickers on top of plastics is a real problem for So even if there is a chance for these plastics to be recycled, there's virtually no chance of them getting recycled if they're contaminated with labels. Most recycling systems prohibit you from putting labeled plastics into the recycling process, and so they're just simply not acceptable for recycling. So there's a lot of impacts that we're seeing with some of these trends.

Emily Yamasaki (04:30)

Absolutely. And so you talked a little bit about kind of that transition from some of the older systems and processes into new technologies, new innovations in that space. What is the impact of using those historical systems versus embracing the new technologies that are always coming up in the field?

Chad Jenkins (04:47)

Yeah, great question. Historical sample storage has room for improvement. At one university campus alone, there are hundreds of freezers that are not optimized for storage and that have unknown sample contents. This is hugely wasteful in regards to energy being spent on freezers attempting to preserve these historical samples. We buy more and more freezers rather than optimizing legacy freezers.

In addition, continuing manual inventory systems that ensure more time is spent on managing them. It takes time to figure out what is what and what is where, and as well as organizing into space and efficient systems. Certainly not all inventory systems are bad. I want to say that has been a lot of great improvements in the availability of streamlined sample management systems the advent of pre-barcoded labware universal systems such as the ANSI SLAS microplane footprint.

So there's been a lot of improvements over time historically. And the key is that these systems exist and that they have been proven and that can be readily adopted. So they're out there. We don't have to do the old school manually writing on lab ware, putting stickers on them. These other systems do exist today.

Emily Yamasaki (05:57)

I think anyone who's worked in a lab has felt the pain of rummaging through a freezer trying to decipher what's written on labels from years ago. So definitely some room for improvement in a lot of places we know the magnitude of the impacts of these kinds of systems? What is the data that supports this?

Chad Jenkins (06:06)

Exactly.

Well, it's challenging to track, you know, precise real time national data is not explicitly tracked. And, but we do know and evidence does suggest that there are hundreds of thousands of lab grade freezers running at U.S. universities alone today. Not counting all of the industry freezers and biotech and pharma and biorepositories. You know, one data point, a single state university, University of California is estimated to have at least 58,000

ultra low temperature freezers, 74,000 minus 20 freezers and 94,000 refrigerators for the scientific laboratories alone for that one university system. It's just astounding the number of freezers. And that's just that alone, let alone think about the global numbers. Companies like LVL, Micronic, Azenta Thermo Fisher, they have demonstrated that moving to a streamlined sample storage tube system

can save 40 % of freezer space for a single freezer. So that is hundreds of thousands of freezers that can be turned off or not purchased going forward. And freezers are high in energy consumption and are among the most energy intensive lab equipment in science, contributing significantly to carbon footprints and elevated operational costs, neither of which we can afford. So there is data out there, even though it may not be specific, that compels us to look at better systems.

Emily Yamasaki (07:40)

That's such a challenge as well, especially as we're kind of in this transitional space between labs becoming more digital and being able to track these things more carefully, but that's not the case everywhere. So that's interesting. And I would be so curious to know how much wasted freezes space there is actually not being used appropriately. we talked a little bit about bringing in workflows to make things more sustainable. the new solutions out there to help?

bring more sustainable systems into existing workflows.

Chad Jenkins (08:06)

So there's been pre-labeled sample storage tubes in the market for a long time. These can be laser edged or direct printed. So removing the labels from the plastic, these have been around for quite some time. And there has been ANSI SLA standardized racks, which can optimize freezer storage spaces, which again can help achieve that 40 % savings as we talked about before. There are now even two debarked tubes in racks that can work in older legacy systems such as cryo boxes.

which do not require purchasing new freezer racks. They go to metal freezer racks, which can be really, really expensive. So that's a great evolution with having those tubes available in these legacy types of systems. PulpFixin has recently launched a plastic free tube and vial rack, which meets the higher density sample systems, which removes over half of the plastic of the other versions that are in the market. And these can be polypropylene or polycarbonate racks that are out there.

which is extremely difficult or expensive to dispose of responsibly. And as you may know, the Auto-Rack won the SLAS New Product of the Year Award this year. So very excited that there is an alternative to some of these plastic products that are in the market. And in addition, there is a new adapter called the Auto-Sleeve, which was just launched, which allows you to quickly replace conical tubes into a fully sustainable tube holder.

that is label free. So no adhesive labels need to go onto it. And it's completely compatible with 2D barcodes and automated and streamlined sample management systems. You don't have to thaw the tubes before transferring to a new system. You just drop the old tubes into a new tube holder in seconds. And it's less expensive than buying 2D tubes and plastic racks. And you don't have to thaw and transfer the sample. So it's a

really innovative way to get a much better sample system out there that is completely sustainable.

Emily Yamasaki (10:02)

anything that kind of cuts down on that sample transport and handling piece, I think is definitely worth look.

How do these changes, these changes to improve sustainability impact organizations? I know there's often a resistance to change, whether that's cost, whether that's time, whether that's other factors to be considered.

Chad Jenkins (10:20)

Yeah, you're exactly right. These proven systems can cut costs, and they can provide more time on critical operations and ensure that valuable sample data is digitized and included in databases. That is extremely powerful. Cost cutting, more time, and better data. Those are compelling reasons of why to consider some of these new solutions that are out

Migrating to these more automated sample management systems does take a little bit of time and investment to implement, though the return on investment is quickly realized. And it ensures that all of your valuable sample assets are captured and not lost, which can be a huge risk for organizations. So those are very impactful. And also, you can divert waste from the landfill or the high cost of plastic recycling programs into easily recycled paper recycling or composting.

So the impacts are time, money, data integrity, and sustainability. And I think any one of those things would be compelling, let alone all of them, and they all exist there today.

Emily Yamasaki (11:24)

Yeah, absolutely. So you kind of mentioned PulpFixin works a lot in this space of creating alternatives to plastic products within these scientific workflows. What are some of the examples of unnecessary plastic products that are being used today? Obviously, there are some instances where plastic is sort of a necessity, but where could that be addressed?

Chad Jenkins (11:42)

Yeah, exactly. mean, certainly sample tubes and vials and pipette tips are still necessary plastics. We can't get rid of those today. But what is no longer necessary are the tube and vial racks that are containing these vessels and pipette tip racks that have been shown to be easily replaced by sustainable alternatives. These containers are often just as much, if not more plastic than the necessary plastics themselves.

So we can immediately transition to some of these sustainable alternatives now. And some of these are even at a lower cost than the plastic counterparts that we use today. So that's just a couple examples of items that are unnecessary that we see that we can replace with more sustainable alternatives.

Emily Yamasaki (12:25)

is unique about PulpFixin's products that you have in the market to replace those items?

Chad Jenkins (12:30)

Well, PulpFixin is focused on reducing our dependency on fossil fuels. That is just a huge mission for the organization. And as such, we do not use any plastics in any of our products. PulpFixin is creating durable alternatives that meet the requirements for the plastic counterparts that they're intended to replace. Simply choose a different rack. That's all. Focusing on paper and paper pulp as a raw material.

PulpFixin products can be recycled with your other cardboard and paper or composted. If these materials end up being thrown in a landfill, well, they'll naturally decompose and not creating microplastics. So that's fine too. There really is no bad end of life for the PulpFixin products. They're designed to be drop-in replacements. So use the same systems, use that you're using today. Use the same vials, tubes, tips. Just choose a different paper rack or holder.

instead of the plastic racks that are out there today. And PulpFixin products can cost less than the plastic counterparts. The addage is sustainability is the added benefit, not the added cost. And certainly that's our goal, to make sure you don't have to spend more to get the sustainability that you're looking for.

Emily Yamasaki (13:39)

you touch on a little bit with the racks being compostable? Are they as durable as the plastic racks? How do they compare in that situation?

Chad Jenkins (13:48)

Yes, we've done testing to show and demonstrate that they can be very durable and last a very long time. We've tested in liquid nitrogen and freezers, freeze-thaw cycles. We've tested them in automation equipment, cappers, decappers. A lot of testing has been done to prove that they can be just as durable as the plastic counterparts, because that is the big question. How can paper be just as durable as plastic? People would say there's no way.

But we are showing that with data and validation and that's how we're to make those claims.

Emily Yamasaki (14:18)

we talked a little bit about some of the necessary plastics that are used. What can we do to reduce the impacts of those plastics?

Chad Jenkins (14:25)

Well, first of all, use less. That's easy, maybe. But certainly try to use less. And then ask yourself, is it necessary? Do I really need to use this plastic product? Is there an alternative that's available in the market? And if it does cost more, can I reasonably afford it? Have I looked into other alternatives? And are there affordable ways to make it work for my operations? And share with others what you found.

If you found something that works great, share it, get it out there, let people know about these wonderful alternatives. There are washing and reuse programs that are out there. There's instrumentation to reuse and wash plastics. So certainly those can be considered. And recycling, it is to me a broken system.

that we really need to figure out a way to sort at the time of use so those materials can get into the right streams to be reused and ground up or remanufactured. But recycling is certainly a great way to reduce the impact and hopefully we can do more and invest more and make that system work as it should. And I think that the key is just reduce, reuse, recycle, and compost.

So I love to throw that one in. We should do more composting.

Emily Yamasaki (15:36)

doesn't fit quite in the but I like it. I like it. And you definitely raise a great point of just awareness as well. think that's really key is knowing what's out there and also kind of hearing about real examples of how these changes have been made successfully. think that value is really, really key here. So we've talked a little bit about products. What is PulpFixin doing to help with these issues?

Chad Jenkins (15:57)

we're focusing on materials that are recyclable and compostable. That's a real focus for us. You know, we've developed feature foam, which is an alternative to EPS polystyrene foam. So trying to reduce the impact of that in our world, which is a huge impact in the world. We do a lot of styrofoam shipping. Our auto racks are an alternative to the 2D barcoded tube racks that are made of polycarbonate or polypropylene.

a very sustainable alternative that we're showing works great as a drop-in replacement. We've launched a line of what we call auto boxes, which are the NC SLS Microplate Standard Footprint boxes that contain all kinds of different tubes and vials and containers. So a real standardized labware storage system. Cryogenic boxes that we've launched that are not plastic coated and they're not plastic. Some of the other cardboard or chipboard boxes that are in the market.

are laminated with either polypropylene or polyethylene, which are not sustainable. They're not recyclable. They're not compostable and probably wind up in a landfill, which is just creating microplastics. So we've got a great alternative to those and just launching our pipette tip racks. So there hasn't been a fully sustainable tip holder in the market until just now. We're demonstrating that those can replace some of the automated liquid handling tip racks that are out there, such as Agilent,

working on Tecan and Beckman, we've demonstrated Hamilton, et cetera. really having a full line of tip racks that are fully sustainable, that can meet the plastic requirements that are in the industry today and more. There's a lot of product development that's going on that we're excited to continue to bring to market and some which I can't share today, but hopefully we'll be having another one of these soon. I can share lots more. But the other thing is just having these kinds of conversations.

Emily Yamasaki (17:41)

Yeah.

Chad Jenkins (17:45)

bringing in awareness to sustainability and a circular economy. It goes beyond just labware and lab products. It's getting people to shift their thinking and ultimately their behaviors. Why are we using plastic designed to last for a thousand years if I only need it to use for a day or a week or months or maybe even a decade? What we do and what we use.

and what we throw away impacts all of us. Earth is a rare and precious place in the universe, as we've just recently reminded of with the Artemis II moonshot. They're out there in space looking back at the world, and it's a really special place. So we're trying to do our part to ensure that we and our children can enjoy and thrive in this wonderful, wonderful place. And we're just doing our part.

and we want to make sure that we can help others do the same.

Emily Yamasaki (18:41)

Thank you so much, Chad. It's always great to hear your insights and hear about all the innovation that PulpFixin is doing in the sustainability space. thank you so much for joining me today. And we'll see you at SLAS Europe in Vienna, May 19th through the 21st.

Chad Jenkins (18:56)

I can't wait, looking forward to it. It'll great to see everyone. Thanks Emily, appreciate the time.

Emily Yamasaki (19:00)

Thank you.