TerraCycle and Charles River Laboratories have announced the international rollout of Charles River’s Endosafe® Cartridge Recycling Program across nine markets: the contiguous United States, Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.

“This program proves that sustainability and compliance can move together. Labs can now recycle Endosafe cartridges without changing validated workflows,” said Courtney Wachtel, product manager for Microbial Solutions’ Endosafe portfolio.

Quality control labs continue to face growing expectations to reduce plastic waste without compromising safety or compliance. Charles River’s Endosafe cartridge technology transformed testing for bacterial endotoxins in the pharmaceutical and sterile drug industry, converting a complex and time-consuming assay into a 15-minute test through a ready-to-use reagent-based plastic cartridge. Because municipal recycling programs cannot process lab-grade plastics, they are usually landfilled or incinerated. The Endosafe Cartridge Recycling Program closes that gap by offering a practical, validated path for labs to recycle Endosafe cartridges used for testing water samples for bacterial endotoxins during production.

After a 12-site beta, participating customers returned and recycled hundreds of cartridges, confirming that the process works within standard lab workflows. At Charles River’s Charleston site alone, the team recycled more than 788 pounds, illustrating what a fully implemented program can deliver. With the beta complete, more than 40 sites globally are now ready for enrollment as the program expands.

Each participating lab receives a TerraCycle Zero Waste Box, collects used Endosafe cartridges from routine water bacterial endotoxin testing, ships the full box back for processing, and automatically receives a new one. TerraCycle sorts the collected material by type, cleans it, and recycles it into pellets that are used to make new products. These recycled materials are then used by manufacturers to make items such as outdoor furniture, shipping pallets, storage containers, and other durable products. TerraCycle provides documentation that supports audits and Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) reporting.

“Advancing sustainability in laboratory settings requires solutions that work within existing, validated processes,” said Tom Szaky, Founder and CEO of TerraCycle. “By providing a reliable way to collect and recycle Endosafe cartridges, we’re helping labs strengthen ESG performance while maintaining the rigor their work demands. It’s an example of how industry partnerships can make measurable progress toward reducing plastic waste.”

Before the public launch, Charles River implemented the program across its own laboratories and manufacturing sites. The internal adoption demonstrates the program’s scalability and its alignment with Charles River’s broader sustainability goals. By applying the same recycling standards internally, the company underscores that operational sustainability begins within its own walls.

This global rollout builds on Charles River’s long-standing commitment to responsible endotoxin testing. Two decades ago, cartridge-based technology reduced reliance on horseshoe crab resources, specifically limulus amebocyte lysate, by more than 95%. With Endosafe Trillium™, the company advanced further by introducing recombinant reagents that remove animal dependency entirely. This cartridge recycling initiative continues that progression by addressing the final sustainability challenge: single-use plastic waste.

Charles River expects program participation to grow significantly by the end of 2026, targeting enrollment of at least 50% of U.S. and 75% of European cartridge customers. Future phases will explore the expansion of laboratory consumables to further reduce environmental impact.

Customers can learn more or enroll by visiting the program webpage or using the Request Information" button below.