Waste Stream/Container Further InformationDescription/Typical Contents

GENERAL (‘BLACK BAG’) WASTE

NON-HAZARDOUS (IDENTIFIABLE) LABORATORY WASTE

AUTOCLAVE (GM / INFECTIOUS) WASTE

INCINERATION BIN /BAG

SHARPS WASTE

Paper, tissues / ‘Blue Roll’ (residual, low hazard chemical contamination acceptable), packaging materials, empty plastic chemical containers (rinsed out and labels removed), uncontaminated gloves.RECYCLE materials where possibleAll contents must be SAFE (no sharps) NO identifiable lab plastics

• Needles & syringes• Glass slides & cover slips• Scalpels / knives• Glass Pasteur pipettes• Cocktail sticks• Small glass vials and ampoules

• Disposal by cleaning staff to general waste skip• Identifiable lab plastic waste has to be disposed of separately fromthe general (black bag) waste

• Disposal by lab staff via Biology Supplies• Do not overfill bags/bins

• Sharp material contaminated with GM / infectious agents should be rendered safe by autoclaving before incineration by contractors. If not, infected sharp material must be classed as ‘infectious lab waste’

• Bins to be taken to Biology Supplies for disposal in the waste collection bins• Yellow lidded sharps bins used for sharps contaminated with medicinal waste

Includes: identifiable used lab consumable waste items such as plastic pipettes / pipette tips / tubes / flasks / syringe bodies / weigh boats / empty chemical containers; gels & non-GM tissue culture contaminated waste also acceptable, gloves contaminated with residual chemical.

No sharps or GM / infectious wasteResidual chemical contamination of items is acceptableClean, uncontaminated plastics can be recycled where practicable

All lab waste (non-sharp) contaminated or potentially contaminated with GM material or infectious agents. Includes GM soil & plant material / soil imported from outside EU.

Remove lids from containers to allow effective steam penetration

Plastic disposal jars (available from Biology Supplies) or ‘tip bags’ can be used for bench disposal of pipette tips before disposal (jar lids loosened) in autoclave bags when full

ANATOMICAL WASTE • Recognisable human tissues & body fluids • Animal carcasses / tissues & bodily fluids

SAMPLE COLLECTION TUBESTubes contaminated with hazardous concs. of chemicals

CHEMICAL SPILL MATERIALSE.g. Paper Tissue / Absorbent Pads used for chemical spills contaminated with hazardous concs. of chemicals

• Do not overfill bags• Pipettes must be contained in ‘Pipette Bins’• Pipette tips: containment in tip jars / bins / bags recommended• Disposal to external orange lidded waste bins• Bags to be fastened with cable ties, labelled with lab I.D. details, before collection & disposal

• Bags from CL1/2 labs safely transferred to central departmental autoclave facility for inactivation

• Autoclaved (inactivated) waste disposed of via the ‘tiger bag’ or ‘orange bag’ (alternative treatment) disposal route

• Use double autoclave bags to minimise bags being punctured Solid plastic bins must ONLY be used to hold autoclave bags if waste is: - GM plant & soil material - from CL1 labs. handling non-pathogenic organisms• Label all solid plastic bins used to hold autoclave waste bags ‘Autoclave Waste Only’

BIOLOGY LABORATORY WASTE DISPOSAL STREAMS

BIOLOGY LABORATORY WASTE DISPOSAL STREAMS

• Chemical Bottles (rinsed out)/Labels Removed• Unwanted/damaged glassware

• Never put solutions down the sink that could ultimately harm the environment / sewerage system / health & safety of people

• Certain chemicals which must never be disposed of through the sewerage system (see ‘waste disposal’ section of Dept. Safety Web Site for further details )

• Biological agents MUST be inactivated by validated autoclave &/or disinfectant protocol before disposal down the sink (liquid cultures of Hazard Group 3 biological agents must be autoclaved before disposal down the sink)

• Bins emptied in large glass recycling bins located in Biology Supplies compound area• Broken glass contaminated with hazardous biological material must be autoclaved before disposal

• Broken glass contaminated with hazardous chemicals must be disposed of in a sharps bin

• Use plastic coated bottles for all flammable & halogenated solvent waste• Waste bottles to be labelled with departmental solvent waste labels (Biology Supplies)• Hierarchy of solvent disposal Solvent mixtures to be classified in order of: Halogenated > Flammable > Aqueous e.g. - Chloroform/THF/Phenol = Halogenated - Ether / DMSO = Flammable • Incompatibilities Reactive substances must NOT be mixed in one waste container e.g. concentrated acids, alkalis, peroxides, oxidising and reducing agents MUST NOT go into solvent waste streams. They must be collected separately & disposed of as ‘individual chemical waste’

Chemicals: • Small volumes (typically <500 mls) of non-toxic, water soluble chemicals from experiments can be carefully washed down the sink with plenty of running water

Larger quantities or highly conc. chemicals must not be put down the sink but must be disposed of by an approved route.

• Inactivated Biological Agents

• Incompatibilities• DO NOT mix reactive substances in one waste container e.g. concentrated acids, alkalis, peroxides, oxidising and reducing agents

• Concentrated reactive substances e.g. acids, alkalis, peroxides, oxidising and reducing agents

• Waste containing ‘heavy metals’ and ‘transition metals’• Mercury spillage (including mercury contaminated tissues/sponges/glass)• Amines, dimethylformamide (DMF), dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO), phenol

• Dispose of through the chemical disposal route via Biology Supplies• Labs responsible for periodic disposal of old/unwanted stocks

Old/Unwanted Stock Chemicals

Waste Stream/Container

INDIVIDUAL CHEMICALWASTE FOR DISPOSALDescription of Waste:

Date Started:

Group(s):

Location:

Further InformationDescription/Typical Contents

UNCONTAMINATED GLASS (RED BINS)

SINK (SEWER) WASTE

SOLVENT WASTE

INDIVIDUAL (NON-SOLVENT) HAZARDOUS WASTE CHEMICAL WASTE

HAZARDOUS STOCK CHEMICALS

• Flammable Solvent Any flammable solvents (H224, H225, H226)

• Halogenated Solvents Any halogenated solvents e.g.: - Carbon tetrachloride - Chloroform - Dichloromethane (DCM)

• Aqueous Solvents Water based solutions, where water has been used as the solvent to dissolve a substance(s) e.g. compounds toxic to

the environment