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Tips for Laboratories to Streamline Chemical Waste Disposal Procedures
August 24, 2020

The best strategy for your management of laboratory chemical waste disposal is aiming to maximize safety protocols and minimize your impact on the environment. You should have these essential objectives in mind from the time you purchase these materials. You should also have a strategic ranking for your management of chemical waste disposal materials if you are to succeed in these objectives.

Initial Responsibility for Your Hazardous Chemical Waste Disposal

The first responsibility in your management ranking is to make sure your laboratory personnel has the training necessary to handle these materials. They should understand the chemical and physical properties of each material you use and that they will come into contact with.

Employees trained in hazardous chemical waste disposal will be responsible for evaluating your waste for potential hazards, providing the necessary information in making an accurate waste determination, and assess the right strategies for minimization, management, and disposal.

Remember, these individuals should be making chemical management and the disposal procedures a routine task each day. The management of these hazardous materials is not something done only if an issue arises. Assign a chemical hygiene officer to the role of creating a hazardous chemical waste disposal guide to ensure all procedures are being followed on a daily basis.

Chemical Hygiene Officer

A chemical hygiene officer will work with your administrators and employees to ensure you have an appropriate chemical hygiene program. This officer will ensure everyone is practicing all hazard communication policies, and they will monitor your procurement, use, and hazardous chemical disposal procedures. The chemical hygiene officer will also be someone trained in handling and disposing of hazardous materials and who follows the chemical waste disposal guide as defined by the EPA. If you are producing hazardous chemicals on a laboratory scale, this position is required by OSHA. Hazardous chemical disposal companies working in your area can advise you if your volume of hazardous chemicals constitutes a hygiene officer’s need.

Defining Your Unwanted Chemical Waste

The second responsibility in the ranking of chemical waste management is to determine if it can be reused or redistributed and if its hazardous implications can be reduced. In general, during this rank of management, you will define which materials should be discarded, will be discarded, and which have no useful purpose in the future.

The practice of purchasing only what you need should be implemented to keep your chemical inventory at a minimum. It also avoids buying duplicates and having to reuse excess materials. Check with your chemical waste disposal companies near you to determine the sanitary sewer disposal regulations for certain aqueous liquids in this rank of waste management.

If you have determined you have chemical waste materials that will be stored until disposal can be arranged, you need to store them according to EPA regulations. If your chemicals are being kept in non-bulk containers, or anything less than five-gallon capacity, you need a detailed list of the contents.

A good policy for recording these materials is to label your containers with a number. This number should correspond to a full description of the contents within your database. Access to this database should be allowed by all crucial employees. To ensure you are in compliance with all state, local, and federal guidelines, your database can include:

– The date you added materials to the container
– The name of any or all employees who generated the waste
– Along with a full list of chemicals inside the container
– Any other information deemed necessary to maintain human and environmental safety protocols
This information will assist your facility should you experience an audit by the EPA.

Safety and Environmental Benefits of Proper Chemical Waste Disposal

The third responsibility in the ranking of proper chemical waste disposal is to ensure human safety and environmental benefits. If you are unable to minimize or prevent chemical disposal, you should consider recycling chemicals that are able to be recovered safely from your waste. These recovered chemicals should have the potential of providing another source of energy, such as using a solvent as a fuel.

Most often, a laboratory will send these wastes to chemical waste disposal services for commercial recycling. Check for a ‘disposal of hazardous chemicals near me’ to find the listing of the nearest one in your location.

Methods of Chemical Waste Disposal

The fourth responsibility in the ranking of proper chemical waste disposal is determining the method of disposal for your materials. In determining the options for your waste disposal, you can check the listings for ‘chemical disposal near me’ to talk to a specialist regarding the waste you generate. These experts will explain the guidelines needed to be followed to ensure your laboratory follows all state, local, and federal guidelines when handling chemical waste disposal practices. They can also explain the timeframe established by the EPA for the handling of waste material within your lab.

The decisions within this ranking of your waste management will take into account the environmental impacts caused by your waste according to what it contains. The goal of proper chemical waste disposal is to always minimize or eliminate any risks to human health or the environment. Naturally, your laboratory wants to avoid any fines or sanctions from any of the government agencies.

When you implement a waste management plan, it should include information on all laws, ordinances, rules, and regulations for proper chemical disposal practices. It would be best if you also were working with local hazardous chemical waste disposal companies who understand and follow all government agency rules.

How to Manage Your Lab Pack Waste

Lab waste disposal amounts in high schools, colleges, or universities may accumulate in smaller quantities. It is still crucial that these materials are contained in what is defined as a ‘lab pack.’ The lab pack is the correct packaging of out-of-date, damaged, or expired chemicals from your lab’s inventory. The amounts are smaller than industrial-sized waste and are placed inside a smaller container or pack, before being placed into a larger container for disposal.

Lab pack disposal methods involve:

– Identifying each chemical in the pack
– Categorizing the chemicals
– Segregating each chemical in its own smaller container
– Depositing the packs into a drum no larger than 110 gallons
– Adding an absorbent material such as vermiculite to the drum to maintain the stability of the smaller packs
– There are stringent regulations put in place by the EPA regarding lab pack disposal. You will want to work with lab disposal services to ensure you comply with not only the EPA regulations but with the Department of Transportation and OSHA as well.

Where to Find Chemical Waste Disposal Services Near Me

Environmental Marketing Services provides you with solutions for your chemical waste disposal and recycling needs. We have been in the business for more than ninety years. We are here to ensure your chemical waste disposal is handled according to government regulations to minimize liability to your facility as we protect our environment. We can process your radioactive waste, high-hazard chemicals, lab packs, and more through our cost-effective chemical waste disposal services.

Sources:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

https://www.osha.gov

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