Home Reagents and Molecular Biology Products Nucleic Acid Purification Migrate to Monarch Nucleic Acid Purification Solutions Monarch^® Kits are Sustainably Designed for Value

Monarch^® Kits are Sustainably Designed for Value

At NEB, we are committed to promoting ecologically sound practices and environmental sustainability in the laboratory to protect our natural resources, both locally and globally.

Plastics and packaging are an undeniable burden of life science research. We believe that groundbreaking research should not negatively impact the environment, so we developed a more sustainable solution for nucleic acid purification with the Monarch nucleic acid purification portfolio. Monarch DNA & RNA extraction kits contain columns and reagent bottles designed with purposefully reduced plastics and packaging that do not compromise performance or quality. These kits are also designed to provide high value, ensuring that you can support sustainability regardless of your budget.

Reduced lab waste with minimal plastic usage

Our Monarch kits deliver the high yields, purity, and performance you expect from NEB while reducing waste through buffer bottles carefully designed to minimize plastic usage and precision-engineered, custom-built columns. We have reduced the total plastic in the Monarch kits by an average of 34% compared to the leading supplier’s kits without compromising performance. Each kit and kit size contains a different quantity of total plastic, so we assessed each kit type in each available size and took the average.

Flexible purchasing options help avoid waste

With buffers and columns sold separately, you can purchase exactly what you need and avoid wasted materials. These standalone products are the same components that are included in complete kits, providing consistent formulations for stable performance across your experiments.

No excessive packaging with Monarch kit boxes

Carefully designed to eliminate empty space but sturdy enough for reuse, the beautifully designed Monarch boxes are easy to upcycle.

Sustainable & recyclable Monarch kit packaging

All components are purposefully designed and sourced specifically with recycling in mind. Additionally, packaging printing is powered by green sustainable sources, such as wind. Kit boxes, inserts and paper materials are made with recycled paper, and instructions for recycling kit components after use can be found on the product packaging or online.

What does 100% post-consumer paper mean?

"Post-consumer" means that the materials are derived from paper goods previously used by consumers. Magazines, cardboard boxes and office paper are put through a process by which they are pulverized and remade into paper products, such as our cardboard box. 100% of the fiber in our outer boxes comes from reclaimed post-consumer material.

My institution does not have the capability to recycle LDPE (low-density polyethylene/ plastic films). What can I do with the bags which hold the columns?

Some recycling streams do not accept plastic films. If this is the case, you can bring them to a location which will accept them, such as a grocery store or your municipal recycling center. Better yet, re-use these to store common lab items like microfuge tubes and cell vials.

Help us shape the future of more sustainable nucleic acid purification

We’d love to hear your ideas and feedback on what the future of more sustainable DNA & RNA purification looks like to you. Share your thoughts on how Monarch kits can continue to evolve and ideas on how to upcycle and recycle kits & packaging.