The Green Review

Universities play a crucial role in achieving a sustainable future, especially through their research. Considering this, we are excited to highlight individuals and groups at UNB that have dedicated their time to pursuing sustainability-related research.

Our newest Sustainability Research Champion is Ahmed Menesi.

Research project

Upcycling Used Nitrile Laboratory Gloves into Sustainable Lab Mats.

Overview of your research

This project is piloting a circular initiative to collect, decontaminate (if necessary), shred and hot-press non-hazardous nitrile gloves into durable lab mats, diverting waste and displacing virgin materials.

How does your work intersect with sustainability?

This project diverts a high-volume single-use plastic from landfill/incineration, can lower lifecycle emissions with logging and reduces demand for virgin polymers, aligning with the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 12: Responsible Consumption and Production and SDG 13: Climate Action.

What impact do you hope this research will have?

The hope for this is to divert more than a set target amount of non-hazardous nitrile in the first phase of production to produce a set number of mats. After, provide a net GHG reduction vs. virgin mats in a small life cycle assessment. The hope for the long run is to produce mats from the gloves used regularly, helping make UNB known for sustainability.

Where can people find information about your work?

As of right now, nothing is published but you can find my work through the Engineers for a Sustainable World chapter here at UNB! The work in this group strictly focuses on producing projects that aid with sustainability around campus.

Know someone who should be a Sustainability Research Champion? Tell us about them by filling out our nomination form!