1. Lab Waste Management A hands-on guide
Presented by
Environmental Health & Safety
University of Rhode Island
Connie Heird
Chemical Hygiene Officer

2. Annual Training – Due by October 9, 2018
Undergraduates: Initial Lab Safety class
New Faculty, Staff and Grad Students:
Year 1 – Initial Lab Safety
Year 2 – Refresher
Alternate years thereafter - Refresher

3. Which waste streams are we covering today?
Chemical waste/Waste Determination/Proper Waste Labelling
Biological waste: solid and liquid
Sharps Waste
Nanomaterials
Agarose gels and Ethidium bromide
Radioactivity
Pump oil

4. Other Issues Serological pipettes Micropipette tips and boxes
Universal Waste
Broken Lab Glass
Batteries

5. Chemical Waste Management Begins With a Hazardous Waste Determination

6. Hazardous Waste Management
ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH & SAFETY UNIVERSITY OF RHODE ISLAND
Hazardous Waste Management
40 CFR Protection of the Environment
RCRA
Resource Conservation and
Recovery Act 1976
Industry + Academia
EPA Office of Solid Waste Management
Solids
Liquids
Industrial Sludge
Semisolids
Contained gaseous material
URI inspected in Consent decree 2002.
Fine $800,000. Waste disposal costs $5 million + (1999 – 2015)
HAZMAT 2018

7. Waste Determination is Made by User
ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH & SAFETY UNIVERSITY OF RHODE ISLAND
Waste Determination is Made by User
A six step process to determine if a waste is hazardous. The steps are listed below, posed as a series of questions:
Is it solid waste? Does it meet the regulatory definition of a solid waste (solids, liquids or industrial sludge)? RCRA - Office of Solid Waste Management
Is it excluded? Does it fall under a regulatory exemption?
Is it listed? Is it included in a specific list of wastes?
Is it characteristic? Does it have a specific set of properties? Toxic, Corrosive,
Flammable or Reactive
Is it a mixture? Even if not hazardous, is it mixed with hazardous wastes (e.g. rad waste)
Is it derived from a hazardous waste? Yes/no
HAZMAT 2017

8. RI Hazard Characteristics
ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH & SAFETY UNIVERSITY OF RHODE ISLAND
IGNITABLE: Flash point < 600 C F (previously 730C)
Class 3
CORROSIVE: pH <5.0 or pH > SK Water Board
Federal pH < 2 or pH >12.5, corrode metal containers
or flesh – Class 8
REACTIVE: Unstable under normal conditions – Class 5
Oxidizer/Reducer
Air/Water reactive
Heat/Photo reactive
TOXIC: mg/Kg oral dose rat LD50 - Class 6.1 (previously 5,000 mg)
HAZMAT 2018

9. Solid waste Gels only: Dispose in mayo jars
Filter pads, contaminated gloves, Kimwipes or paper towels:
Double-bag in heavy duty plastic ziplock bags for disposal

10. Liquid Waste Dispose in a 4 liter bottles or 5 gal carboy
Smaller screw cap containers (reagent bottles) are appropriate for smaller volumes of waste
DO NOT USE mayo jars for liquids, they will leak!!

11. Chemical Waste Management
Declare it a waste (no longer needed or wanted)
Pour it into a properly labelled container
Tighten the screw cap
Put it in your SAA
When container is full, send a Waste Pick-up Request to EHS

12. Chemical Waste Common issues
Incomplete or missing labels
Abbreviations on label (Do not use abbreviations, chemical formulas or trade names. For example, write out hydrochloric acid, not HCl)
Screw caps missing or not on tightly
Container too large for volume of waste generated
Missing hazard class(es)
Inappropriate container, incompatible with waste
Waste not in SECONDARY CONTAINMENT (SAA)

14. SAA’s – Common problems
Incompatible wastes in a single SAA (acids + bases)
Must be segregated
Inappropriate waste streams: sharps, empty containers
SAA’s are only for chemical hazardous waste
Too many UNKNOWNS!! Label your containers!
SAA’s are full - send in Hazardous Waste Pick-up Requests at least monthly!

15. Proper labelling Missing labels:
Attach a label to each waste container and fill it in correctly
No abbreviations!
Include water in solutions
Wrong room number/missing contact info (PI’s name)

16. How to Label Your Waste

17. Scheduling Waste Pick-ups
Triumvirate Environmental is here most Thursdays
Please submit your Waste Pick-up Request to EHS by 2 pm Wednesday, the day before
Do not submit your request on Thursday and expect your waste to be picked up that day. It won’t be. to
Fax to

18. Sharps at URI What’s a Sharp? Includes
Any item capable of puncturing or cutting the skin
Proper disposal:
In the lab’s Sharps container
NOT IN THE LAB’S GLASS
DISPOSAL BOX
Includes
Needles and syringes
Scalpels and blades
Razor blades
Pasteur pipettes (bio and non- bio)
Microscope slides and coverslips
Vacutainer tubes

19. Regulated Medical Waste - RMW (aka Biowaste)
Examples
Bio box:
BL-1 and BL-2 waste
BL-1 and BL-2 pathogens
Cell culture plasticware
Micropipette tips
Disposable lab coats
DO NOT OVERFILL
DRY WASTE ONLY, no liquids!!
Sharps:
Needles and syringes
Scalpels and blades
Razor blades
Pasteur pipettes (bio and non-bio)
Microscope slides and coverslips
Vacutainer tubes
DRY WASTE ONLY, no liquids!!

20. Sharps Containers

21. What do you do with your full Sharps container?
If you have other bio waste, put your Sharps container in your bio waste box
If you don’t, then put it in a box in a lab on your floor
Biowaste pick-ups: alternate Tuesdays – see Biowaste Pick-up
Schedule

22. The Bio Box – RMW Disposal
Available in room 275-B Avedesian Hall
Boxes
Bags (DOUBLE BAG – new for )
Tape
See Managing Biohazardous Waste SOP
in URI Biosafety Manual, p. 58
for directions on how to set up a box properly
Improperly set up boxes will be rejected
Overweight boxes will be rejected

23. Chemical and Bio Waste
Do not mix

24. Bio Waste - Liquid From cell culture aspiration
Add bleach to make a final dilution of 10% bleach plus aspirate
Allow 20 minutes contact time to kill
Wash down the sanitary sewer with running water
Other liquid bio wastes: contact EHS: x

25. Nanomaterials
Dispose nanoparticles following EHS chemical waste guidelines:
Contaminated objects (paper, wipes, tips): dispose as solid chemical waste
Contaminated disposable PPE (gloves, disposable lab coats): dispose as solid chemical waste
Pure nanomaterials/nanoparticles in solid form (including powders): dispose as solid chemical waste
Nanoparticles in solution: dispose as liquid chemical waste

26. Agarose and Ethidium Bromide Gels
Small volumes (a few gels): mayo jar from EHS
Large volumes (multi-user rooms): 5 gallon pail (shippable) from EHS
Put a hazardous waste label on container before filling
Don’t use plastic bags, they can leak

27. Radioactive Materials
Geiger counters, lead shielding or anything with this label
Contact Sangho Nam, RI Nuclear Science Center
(401)

28. Pump oil Not a hazardous waste but it is collected and recycled
Label “Used Pump Oil for Recycling”
Include on a Hazardous Waste Pick-up Request form

29. Serological Pipette Disposal
Decontaminated pipettes were previously collected in a cardboard box and disposed to the dumpster.
NEW THIS YEAR
RMW is now sent to a facility to generate energy so this waste stream will be kept out of landfill going forward
Collect decontaminated pipettes and those used for media in a
31 gallon tote, available in 275-B
When full return to 275-B and take a replacement
Let me know you did by Fri before the pick-up or x

30. Miscellaneous Waste Streams Dispose in a biobox
Micropipette Tips (decontaminated) and Boxes
Dispose in a bio box lined with 2 red bags
Because they are incinerated to generate energy they will no longer be sent to landfill
Disposable Lab Coats (used for cell culture)
Can also be disposed to a biobox

31. Universal Waste Is hazardous waste that has a separate set of rules
Can collect for up to 1 year
BUT must date it the day it comes out of service and identify it properly (labels on EHS web page)

32. RI e-Waste Law 2008 – Universal Waste
What’s included:
Computers (CPUs)
Computer monitors (CRT and flat panel)
Combination units (CPUs with monitors)
Laptops (with a screen greater than 9 inches diagonally)
Televisions (including CRT, LCD and plasma, screen greater than 9 inches diagonally)
Video display devices with a screen greater than 9 inches diagonally, contains a circuit board
What’s not included
Printers and other computer peripherals (e.g. cables, mouse or keyboards)
MUST BE LABELLED

33. Universal Waste Labels https://web.uri.edu/ehs/hazardous_waste/
UNIVERSAL WASTE Description: Used Lamps DATE___________________ Description: Used Cathode Ray Tubes Description: Mercury-Containing Equipment, list_______________
UNIVERSAL WASTE Description: Used Batteries DATE___________________ Description: Used Electronic Devices not Containing CRTs USED OIL – Liquid for recycling USED OIL – Solids (Speedi-dry /rags)

34. Universal Waste Lamps and bulbs
May contain heavy metals. All get recycled.
Sources: UV lamps from BSC’s; bulbs from microscopes, instruments and other equipment
Label and dispose properly
Universal Waste
Used Lamps
Date: _________
Call Recycling x for pick-up

35. Broken Lab Glass
Use a cardboard box (shipping carton) lined with a plastic bag to collect glass and contain chips
DO NOT OVERFILL!!
When box is ¾ full, seal it with tape and label “Broken Lab Glass”
Carry out to the dumpster
Custodial staff have been instructed not to handle this waste stream

36. Batteries Collected as Hazardous Waste
Only leaking lead acid batteries now
All others go to Recycling.
Alkaline
Nickel cadmium (NiCad)
Mercury oxide
Lithium (duct tape terminals to prevent a fire)
Lead acid
SHIPPING LITHIUM BATTERIES: NEW SHIPPING REGULATIONS. Contact EHS for guidance. Do not ship yourself. Fines begin at $75 k.

37. EHS Contact Info
Hazardous Waste Nancy Paterson
Biological Waste Connie Heird
Radioactive/Lasers Sangho Nam
General information Pam McCarthy
Questions
EHS web page