Supporting Bay Area science students

Exact Sciences’ decommissioned laboratory equipment donation program is growing. 
 
Building on the success of a donation process created in 2023, Exact Sciences’ lab in Redwood City, California, has transferred nine machines and other unneeded equipment to a nonprofit organization serving science students. 
 
Equipment came from the location’s analytical laboratory and included machines that helped perform an RNA extraction process on patient samples for tests in Exact Sciences’ Precision Oncology portfolio. 
 
In 2023, a cross-functional Exact Sciences group designed a repeatable process that would allow us to donate unneeded equipment instead of storing it or disposing of it. Donating equipment that still has useful life reduces our environmental impact, supporting our commitment to sustainability.  
 
Our first equipment donation benefitted a school district near our headquarters in Madison, Wisconsin. 
 
In Redwood City, some of the decommissioned equipment will be reused at Exact Sciences sites in San Diego, California; Phoenix, Arizona; and Madison. 
  
The rest went to BioLink Depot, a San Francisco Bay Area organization that is “advancing educational equity by creating a circular economy for scientific materials,” according to its website.  
 
BioLink Depot sends laboratory equipment and supplies for free to educators and researchers to promote scientific training for students at all levels. It says it has diverted more than 100 tons of electronics waste, or e-waste, from landfills in the past year. 
 
Plus, teachers get supplies their students need for learning. In 2023, the organization distributed $750 million worth of supplies to 267 educators, positively impacting more than 81,000 students, it says. 
 
Roberto Listek, an Exact Sciences lead engineer who led the decommissioning effort in Redwood City, says the project lets Exact Sciences continue to live our goal of improving patients’ lives, just in a new way. Some decommissioned equipment will be used in scientific education. Some students may go on to become scientists who will make even more breakthroughs to serve patients.  
 
It’s also a good sustainability move, Listek says. 
 
“Here in Redwood City, there are a lot of people, including me, that the last thing we want to do is e-waste something,” he says. “We want to either transfer it to another Exact Sciences location or donate it to somebody that’s going to use it. This way, we accomplish the goal of keeping e-waste to a minimum.”