DE On 19 April 2023, 6 employees of Mull und Partner Ingenieurgesellschaft mbH (M&P) from Hanover visited the laboratory of GBA Gesellschaft für Bioanalytik mbH (GBA) at the Hildesheim site. The colleagues were given a comprehensive insight into the world of the laboratory.
GBA has several locations both in Germany and abroad and is a laboratory service provider for various sectors such as pharmaceuticals, food and agrochemicals. The focus on this day was on the environmental analyses of solid samples.
Almost every day, M&P colleagues take samples of soil or construction waste material in accordance with the LAGA PN98 guidelines from various construction sites, mainly in the Hanover area but also beyond, and report them to the GBA laboratory for collection.
The laboratory also receives samples of all kinds from other offices or private individuals in a wide variety of sample containers. This requires good logistics, starting with the registration of each individual sample container and the dispatch of certain samples to other locations - not every location has the same analysis techniques - through to the evaluation and dispatch of the results to the customer. The samples are recorded via the so-called LIMS (Laboratory Information and Management System), a software-supported computerised system. Each sample is given a barcode, which can be used to retrieve the relevant data at any time during the laboratory process.
The processing times of the samples (from sample receipt to the final test report) vary greatly and depend on the materials and (harmful) substances to be analysed. Some results are available after 2 days, some only after 3 weeks due to the process, such as the gas formation rate.
The chemical analyses and their results in the form of test reports are an essential part of M&P's work. We analyse and evaluate the data obtained in the laboratory, classify the analysed materials according to soil protection or waste legislation and pass them on to the end customer (usually the client or construction company) in the form of reports.
On construction sites, the laboratory results are a key aspect in deciding whether soils or waste batches can be reused or recycled or whether they have to be disposed of, e.g. in a landfill, due to chemical contamination. In this respect, good co-operation between M&P as an engineering office and GBA as an analytical laboratory is a decisive factor for a functioning circular economy.
M&P would like to thank the colleagues at GBA Hildesheim for the in-depth insights into the laboratory's processes and looks forward to continuing our good collaboration.
