Safety Instruction 09

Hazardous Waste Reduction Techniques

Update 09/04/2007

General

Cost to dispose of hazardous chemical waste may exceed the original purchase cost
EH&S encourages generators to reduce waste whenever possible

Difficult to handle and very expensive to dispose
Prevent by keeping good records and labeling.
Responsible departments must make a good faith effort to identify the material.
Responsible departments may be asked to pay for the cost of identification or classification required for disposal of unknowns.

Combined by EH&S and reused for off-site fuel or solvent recovery
Small volumes will be collected.
Mixing organic solvents with other chemicals will make them unsuitable for heat recovery; costs will increase.
"Other chemicals" include halogenated solvents, acutely toxic flammables, acids, bases, heavy metals, oxidizers, and pesticides.

Separate from other liquids for solvent recovery.
Flammable orgainc solvents mixed with halogenated solvents should be treated as halogenated waste solvent.

Appropriate if material is in unopened containers or partially used original containers and of high quality.
Be careful not to obliterate labels or any parts of labels.
Materials are made available to interested parties at OSU.
Research chemicals should not be given or sold to the general public or offered as surplus property.
Commercial chemical products may be surplused if reasonable cautions are followed; contact EH&S for details.

Performed on wastes which are hazardous ONLY because of corrosive properties (acids, bases).
Neutralized solution should have a final pH value between 6 and 9.
Corrosive wastes outside those pH limits should not be discharged through the sewer system.
EH&S may be able to provide generators with appropriate neutralization materials.

Buy chemicals in an amount that matches anticipated needs
Substantial portion of chemical waste at OSU is still chemicals in original containers
Savings from purchasing chemicals in larger sizes offset by disposal costs for unused portions
Watch chemical shelf life when buying
It's not always possible to determine future needs, but think about it when ordering.

Modify procedures which use hazardous substances to lessen the hazard or amount of waste products
A less hazardous material can be substituted and perform as well
Example:
- Substitute the commercial oxidizing compound NOCHROMIX in place of chromic acid in making an oxidizing acid cleaning solution
- Resulting mixture is still hazardous because of its corrosive properties, but is not toxic.
- It can be neutralized
Reactive substances--those that react with water or air or are inherently unstable--are especially troublesome disposal items.
Disposal costs for picric acid can be as much as ten times the original purchase price.
Minimize purchases, change procedures, use entire stocks, and regularly monitor inventory of such compounds

Collect solids in disposable, non-leaking containers, labeled with contents, clearly marked as non-hazardous
EH&S will accept any well identified non-hazardous waste and take care of it
It can alternatively be placed in the campus garbage collection system.
Small volumes of solutions containing only non- hazardous, water miscible liquid materials can be disposed through the sewer system
- Remember that "hazardous" includes flammable liquids even if they are water soluble
If questions arise as to a specific chemical's hazard status, contact EH&S

NON-Hazardous Organic Chemicals