- Source Reduction and Waste Minimization
- Storage of Waste in the Laboratory
- Labeling
- Containers
- Waste Segregation
- Accumulation Times
- Empty Containers
- Unknowns
- Sharps
- Animals
- Some Do's & Don'ts in Hazardous Waste
CHEMICAL WASTE DISPOSAL
These guidelines are provided to help ensure safe, efficient, and legally
compliant handling and disposal of hazardous waste.These guidelines have been prepared to
assist employees in packaging chemical waste materials only. Other requirements
must be met whenever radioactive or bio-hazardous materials are handled.
Never
dispose of any solid or liquid chemical or other hazardous materials in the
general trash or down the drain. All
chemical hazardous waste must be disposed through the Office of Environmental
Health and Safety at extension (2998).
Waste disposal requests may be made through the EH&S website (http://www.mnstate.edu/ehs/)
or call EH&S (2998). Be sure to supply all requested information and
clearly describe the waste to be picked up. This will help prevent delays in
picking up your waste.
SOURCE REDUCTION AND WASTE MINIMIZATION
Many laboratory waste streams can be minimized by properly managing chemical inventories:
- Develop a centralized chemical purchasing, inventory, tracking, and storage system.
- Purchase and use the smallest quantity of chemicals suitable to your needs and rotate chemical stock to prevent chemicals from becoming too old to use. A good rule is to order chemicals in quantities that will be used in about a year.
- Label and store all chemical containers properly to prevent chemical contamination or degradation.
- Practice good housekeeping in your laboratory or facility.
- Develop and implement laboratory procedures to reduce chemical use and properly manage generated wastes.
- Downscale chemical volumes and increase the use of instrumentation.
- Examine laboratory or facilities procedures and substitute less hazardous or recyclable chemicals whenever possible.
- Incorporate processes for waste minimization into existing experimental protocols to reduce final volumes of chemical wastes. Neutralize or detoxify intermediates and byproducts during the experimental process. Treat or destroy hazardous materials as the last step in experiments.
- Reuse and/or recycle spent solvents and recover metal from spent catalyst.
- (Contact EH&S) Investigate other options for waste minimization.
STORAGE OF WASTE IN THE
LAB
Each laboratory should have a designated location in which to store hazardous
wastes. This space should be properly labeled and should be out of the way of
normal laboratory activities, but easily accessible and recognizable. Do not
keep radioactive waste and chemical waste in the same place. All waste
materials must be kept in secondary containers and segregated by hazard class. Secondary containers can be laboratory trays,
bins, tubs, buckets, or totes that will contain 110% of the volume of the
largest container.
LABELING
To avoid delays in having laboratory waste picked up, each container must have
a Hazardous Waste label. In order to comply with hazardous waste labeling
regulations, all hazardous waste must be labeling with the following
information:
- The words "Hazardous Waste".
- Name and address of generator.
- Accumulation start date (the date the first drop of waste goes into the container).
- Composition and physical state of the waste.
- Waste accumulation start date.
- Hazardous properties of the waste.
Chemical names must be specific. Nonspecific
labels such as "organic waste," "waste solvents," and
"acid waste" are not sufficient, and these items will not be picked
up until properly labeled.
Chemical formulas or abbreviated chemical names are also not acceptable. If the
waste label is not properly completed and attached to the waste container(s),
EH&S will not pick up your waste. Labels and Chemical Waste Disposal Lists
are provided by EH&S and available on the EH&S website (http://www.mnstate.edu/ehs/).
Containers must be leak-proof. Liquids must be in a screw-capped container
that will not leak if tipped over. Containers sealed with corks, parafilm, or
laboratory beakers that will not stand up are not acceptable. If the material
is not in an appropriate container, transfer the material. The size of the
container should correspond to the quantity of materials being discarded. For
example, it is not cost effective to ship 50 mL of material in a 4 L container.
Contaminated lab trash such as glassware, gloves, paper towels, etc., must not
have free liquid in them. They must be placed in clear, double plastic bags and
properly labeled with a Hazardous Waste Label.No waste will be picked up in bags with the biohazard symbol.
Glass or plastic tubing, pipettes, and stir bars must not be placed in
liquid waste containers. Most liquids are transferred to drums after
receipt by EH&S, and must be poured or pumped. Solid items clog the funnels
and pumps and are not accepted by the vendors that receive these wastes. If the
waste contains these items, the bottle will not be picked up or it will be
returned to you for separation.
The material must be compatible with the container; i.e., acids or bases cannot
be transported in metal containers; hydrofluoric acid cannot be transported in
glass.
WASTE SEGREGATION
EH&S strives to provide the most cost-effective and environmentally sound
hazardous waste management possible. This includes seeking waste disposition
options such as recycling and reuse. Proper segregation of waste chemicals in
the laboratory can greatly facilitate this goal. Moreover, it can provide cost
savings to the University.
Examples of responsible and cost-effective segregation include:
- Separating halogenated solvents from non-halogenated solvents
- Excluding metals from solvent waste streams
- Keeping acetone and dichloromethane separate from other solvents
Call EH&S for further
information on waste segregation.
Under no circumstances can hazardous waste be accumulated anywhere on
campus for more than one year. Since this one-year period includes 60-90 days
that EH&S may have to store it at the Environmental Services Facility prior
to shipment, hazardous wastes cannot be accumulated in laboratories for more
than nine months.
There is one major exception to the maximum accumulation period of one year.
Extremely hazardous wastes such as hydrofluoric acid, arsenic or
cyanide-containing wastes may not be accumulated for more than 90 days if
certain volume limits are exceeded. For this reason, EH&S advises removal
of all hazardous waste as soon as containers are full or at least every 90
days.
If your laboratory generates waste in small quantities, or at low accumulation
rates, and you wish to accumulate your waste for up to nine months, please
contact EH&S to make sure that your waste is not extremely hazardous.
EMPTY CONTAINERS
EH&S will pick up empty chemical bottles or other containers for disposal.
However, laboratory personnel may triple-rinse each container, allow it to air
dry, deface the labels, remove the cap, and dispose of the empty container in
the ordinary trash. Custodians are instructed not to dispose any chemical
bottles into the trash unless the bottles have been properly cleaned. Empty
extremely hazardous materials containers should not be triple-rinsed. EH&S
must pick these up and dispose as hazardous waste. The Extremely Hazardous
materials list is provided at the end of this section. At no time should full, partially full, or
unrinsed containers be thrown in the regular trash.
UNKNOWNS
Individual users are also responsible for analyzing or otherwise providing
positive identification of chemicals submitted to EH&S for disposal. If
unknown waste cannot be identified, contact EH&S for assistance.
SHARPS
Syringes, glass pipettes, and other sharps material contaminated with hazardous
materials (chemicals, radioactive or biological) must be placed in a specially
designed rigid container. These "sharps containers" can be purchased
at the Storehouse. EH&S will pick them up on request. Autoclaved sharps
containers of medical waste must be disposed through EH&S or an approved
medical waste disposal company. Do
NOT use red medical waste containers for non-medical waste sharps.
ANIMALS
Animal carcasses that are not contaminated with chemicals or radioactivity are
disposed through individual Department contracts. Call EH&S (2998) for advice
on disposing contaminated carcasses.
SOME DO'S AND DON'TS IN HAZARDOUS WASTE
DO:
- Call EH&S with any problem concerning waste disposal.
- Completely fill out and attach hazardous waste labels before waste accumulation starts.
- Date containers when the first drop of waste goes in.
- Use only screw-top containers that can be securely closed and keep containers closed except when being filled.
- Leave head space in containers for expansion.
- Keep waste in secondary containers and properly labeled.
- Substitute less hazardous chemicals whenever possible.
DO NOT
- Mix chemicals, i.e., halogens, metals, solvents, etc.
- Put hazardous waste in red or biohazard bags.
- Put sharps or pipettes in plastic bags - use a sharps container.
- Leave waste containers open.
- Guess at the contents of an unknown container.