For safety and environmental reasons, regulations make the disposal of chemical waste difficult and costly. It is a matter of sensible economics as well as good practice to generate as little waste as possible and, wherever practicable, substances should be recovered and recycled.
At the end of research projects it is necessary to dispose of all unwanted products or other chemicals and researchers are required to follow the instruction for laboratory clearance described in the Safety Manual.
The PI of the individual research project is to make arrangements with a chemical waste disposal company for disposal of unwanted chemicals. A list of such companies can be obtained from the Chemistry Safety Office.
All substances to be disposed of should, if possible, be identified by chemical name and molecular formula. If this is very difficult because there is a mixed waste, then the character of the mixture must be accurately defined, e.g. categorizations such as a mixture of organic amines and their salts but with no compound boiling below 100oC; some are suspect carcinogens would be helpful and acceptable (provided it is true) but a categorization such as mixture of organic liquids, smells of nitrobenzene will not be acceptable and some work will have to be done by the originators of the waste to determine what else is with the nitrobenzene before it can be accepted. It is very important that if there are known hazards associated with the waste, these should be stated on the label (see below) including for example the inclusion of hazardous drying agents.
All substances to be disposed of must be put into leak-proof containers that are clearly labelled with the identity or categorization of the contents, any known hazards, and some indication of boiling point range. Substances identified only by a trade name will also not be accepted – there has to be some indication of the chemical nature.
General: If material is packed into used boxes, ensure that old labels are obliterated and the container is marked “this way up“. The total weight should not exceed 5 kg and the dimensions should be about one foot cube. Organic or aqueous liquids should be in glass or plastic containers, solids in metal drums or plastic tubs.
