What is an ACT label?
ACT stands for accountability, consistency, and transparency. The labels are designed to evaluate and score products on several sustainability criteria, such as energy and waste use, responsible chemical management, disposal of the packaging at the end of life, and sustainable content within products and packaging materials, among other factors.
Below you will see a guide to help you interpret these labels, and the labels for each of our sample extraction kit that have been assessed.
How to interpret an ACT label
Like nutrition labels, the ACT label shows how products 'rate' in sustainability-related categories. Products are scored from 1 to 10 except for energy and water consumption, which are scored as 1 point per kWh or gallon, respectively. A low score means a lower environmental impact.
How did our extraction kits score?
Compared to our standard kits, our eco-friendlier QIAwave Kits have a lower Environmental Impact Factor, as shown in the table below. In summary, QIAwave Kits also showed:
• improved product content compared to standard kits (from 10 down to 1)
• improved packaging content compared to standard kits (from 5 down to 1)
• improved packaging end-of-life compared to standard kits (some regional differences)
| Kit | Environmental Impact Factor (EU) | ACT labels |
| QIAwave RNA Mini Kit | 25 | US, EU, UK |
| RNeasy Mini Kit | 40.1 | US, EU, UK |
| QIAwave DNA Blood & Tissue | 25 | US, EU, UK |
| DNeasy Blood & Tissue | 39.8 | US, EU, UK |
| QIAwave Plasmid Miniprep | 25 | US, EU, UK |
| QIAprep Spin Miniprep | 40.3 | US, EU, UK |
Meet the QIAwave products
My Green Lab Ambassador and Certification Programs
We’re taking part in the My Green Lab Ambassador and Certification Programs so we can make our R&D labs more sustainable. The Ambassador Program offers a crash course in lab sustainability for scientists and lab professionals, emphasizing behavioral changes that promote greener laboratory operations. The Certification Program is the gold standard for laboratory sustainability best practices worldwide and is recognized by the United Nations Race to Zero campaign.