Waste Disposal in the Department of Biological Sciences: 

Contents:

1. Introduction: back to top

Waste material may be characterized as being either hazardous or non-hazardous in terms of its effect on humans and the environment. Waste is considered hazardous based on characteristics related to being: flammable, corrosive, toxic, reactive or infectious. Non-hazardous material can be safely disposed of via the building garbage collection system (goes to landfill) or via the sewer if it is water-soluble.

Materials that are considered hazardous must either be: (1) rendered harmless by the user before disposal as non hazardous waste (e.g. autoclaving infectious material) or, (2) sent for disposal to a facility that will process the material appropriately (e.g. high temperature incineration). The office of Environmental Health and Safety at the University of Alberta (EH&S) offers such a service that is 'free' to members of the university.

It is important that we are responsible in how we dispose of our wastes since we do not want to simply export our problem into our neighbour's backyard. We expect the same consideration from our neighbours.

2. Disposal of non-hazardous material into the sewer system or the building garbage: back to top

What you may dispose of by the sewer system or solid garbage are small mounts (a few grams or milliters) of non-hazardous chemicals (having very low toxicity). For the sewer, they must be soluble in water and could include things like: dilutes salt solutions, dilute acids or bases (solution pH must be between 6 and 10) or small amounts of alcohols like ethanol or iso-propanol (miscible with water). Small volumes (millilitres) of volatile solutions may be evaporated in a fume hood if they are low hazard (e.g. methanol, acetone, toluene) but things like benzene (carcinogenic) should be sent to EH&S. For larger quantities of even low hazard chemicals, dispose of them through the EH&S service.

There is legislation governing the use of the sewage system and landfills in Alberta. The municipal bylaw was expanded greatly in December 2000 and now includes a detailed list of fines for offences that escalate quickly after the second infraction.

1. Municipal bylaw for sewer use #9675 (click cancel if asked for an ID/password) explicitly prohibits flammables, explosives, corrosives, mercury and oils and gives restricted quantities for several individual elements and some organics (e.g. carbon tetrachloride, phenols) and "hazardous waste" (Schedules A, B and C list prohibited and restricted items).
2. Government of Alberta regulation #192/96 Environmental Protection and Enhancement Act - Waste Control Regulation: refers to restrictions on items going into landfills based on: pH, flammability and being toxic (having an oral toxicity LD50 less than 5000 mg/kg or dermal toxicity less than 1000 mg/kg). These toxicity thresholds are quite conservative and would only allow things ranked as being "practically non-toxic" to "slightly toxic" from going into regular garbage.

3. Waste handled internally: back to top

3.1 Regular garbage: do not place anything in the green garbage bags that 1) is a hazardous product as defined under WHMIS (further information can be found at WHMIS-1or WHMIS-2) or 2) that might cause injury to the building services people who will move the bags to the loading dock.

3.2 Glass waste (clean, not contaminated with hazardous material):
· deposit in yellow pails labelled for glass disposal,
· place outside lab in corridor on Tuesday and Thursday afternoon for pickup that night,
· empty pail will be left in the hallway and you can move it back into the lab.
Note: glass waste is simply collected and placed into the dumpster at the loading dock, if you have something special that does not fit in a yellow pail (e.g. a broken aquarium), you can dispose of it yourself in the dumpster.

3.3 Plastic pipettes and micropipette tips: can puncture through a green garbage bag, treat these as broken glass and deposit into a yellow glass waste pail.

3.4 Paper/cardboard for recycling: recycling bins are in most elevator lobbies, the main bins are down at loading dock in G204 if you have a lot of material to dump at one time.

3.5 Biohazardous (infectious material): back to top
Biohazardous material normally includes living things that are pathogenic such as: bacteria, viruses, mycoplasms, protozoans, fungi as well as their genetic material and gene products (like bacterial toxins). It also includes organisms that have been genetically modified using recombinant DNA technology. However, most all of these should be rendered harmless by the user through autoclaving before disposal via the regular garbage system.
There is a large autoclave in the basement soils room (G006, access through door Z003 or by the freight elevator) that is used primarily for killing biohazardous materials before discarding. Instructions are posted in the room. Users must not leave bags in the area any longer than necessary: after removing and cooling on the trolley, the killed material must be transferred by the owner into the green garbage bags. Building services will get rid of items placed in the green bags but will not touch any other kind of bags in that area.

Accumulation and handling of biohazardous waste:
The following procedure can be used to ensure that biohazards are identified properly until rendered non-hazardous:

1. use a two bag system to accumulate biohazard waste. Place a clear autoclave bag inside an orange Biohazard bag to collect material.
2. when almost full, loosely tie the clear inner bag and transport it within the orange bag to the autoclave room. Orange bag stays in place right up until the material goes into the autoclave.
3. the inner clear bag and contents are placed in a tray and loaded into the autoclave. The top of the bag should be open to allow steam to penetrate inside.
4. Set temperature and time to ensure a thorough killing of the entire contents. Larger volumes require a longer time for the innermost material to reach the killing temperature. Consult the autoclave manual.
5. When the cycle is complete, remove the trolley and allow the bag to cool in the tray (~1 hour) before sealing and depositing it into a green garbage bag. Tie the top up on the green bag and dispose of as non-hazardous garbage.
6. The orange biohazard bag can be reused in the lab after installing a new clear bag inside.

Do not cover an orange biohazard bag full of autoclaved material with a green garbage bag and place in the garbage as the Biohazard label may become visible and cause 'concern' among landfill workers.
The only way an orange biohazard bag can be placed into the regular garbage is if it is:

1. empty AND
2. the labels and symbols have been defaced with a black marker (or the bag has been cut into pieces so that the labels are no longer intact).

3.6 Animal parts/carcasses: should not be disposed of in regular garbage even if autoclaved or stored in preservative. All items destined for incineration should be double bagged in plastic, the outside bag should be clean and labelled with the contents, name of investigator and lab number along with information on any biological hazards associated with the material. Contact Susan (x5358) in the Biosciences Animal Service CW401 or Simone (x5359) in G601 before transporting the material to the facility. Some animal tissues may need to be disposed of at the UofA Hospital system (see 4.5 below).

4. Waste sent for disposal via the Office of Environmental Health and Safety or UofA-Dispatch trucks: back to top

4.1 Compressed gas cylinders: users can borrow a cylinder cart from Biostores to take empties to the storage area on the loading dock (G204, north wall). All cylinders (full or not) must be secured from tipping at all times so chain them up on the wall.
Spray cans containing propellant should not be disposed of in the garbage; send to EH&S.
Special note for bear spray: place all cans (full or partial) into a clear plastic bag and seal top. Dispose of via EH&S.

4.2 Chemicals-general: includes flammables, corrosives (acids/bases), oxidizers (nitrates, perchlorates, etc) and poisonous material (many chemicals). Sort into the major classes as described for Chemical Segregation information on the departmental web page under Safety Information (see http://biodb.biology.ualberta.ca/safety.hp/ChemSafety/Chemical_Segregation.htm). These are the same groupings that lab chemicals are supposed to be sorted into to avoid a violent reaction if an accident occurs. Separate solids from liquids and pack grouped items into boxes. Attach a list of the contents to the outside of the box (include lab number and supervisors name on the list). If you wish to have large plastic containers like the red fire safety cans returned when empty, make sure this is indicated on the container along with your building and room number.

4.3 Chemicals-special hazard: anything that would require special care and equipment if one had to clean up a spill. Each bottle should be placed in a clear plastic bag that is sealed before packaging in a box. Chemicals with special hazards might include things like:

4.4 Sharps: includes needle + syringe barrel, scalpels, razor blades. back to top
Sharps are considered biohazards because in a clinical setting, they include things that might be contaminated with animal blood (which might carry infectious agents). Our sharps are destroyed through the UofA Hospital so they must be packaged to comply with their standards.

Packaging sharps: need to be contained in a leak-proof and puncture-proof container. Usually a plastic gallon jug or bottle is used (label the outside with a warning text indicating it contains "sharps"). To avoid sticking yourself or spreading contaminated liquid, do not try to recap the needle or to remove the needle from the syringe barrel. Do not try to clip off or deform the needle. For disposal, the plastic jug should be capped and placed into a heavy-duty yellow bag contained in a cardboard box stamped as Biohazard Waste (available from Biostores if you have a need for them). We are setting up a communal box + bag in the Chemical Waste Disposal room (G204C) at the loading dock. Do not throw loose items into the bag, they must be in their own puncture-proof plastic container first. If you have larger quantities of sharps, they may also be collected in the yellow Biohazard pails (25L, sold at Biostores for ~$3.50) and sent for incineration by EH&S.

4.5 Brain tissue: may need to be exported from the department for incineration due to the possibility that it could contain an infectious prion (scrapies in sheep, mad cow disease, CreutzFeld-Jacob disease in humans). Such material is to be packaged and labelled as a biohazardous waste. Check with the Office of Environmental Health and Safety for further information.

4.6 Radioactive material: (contact Carl Shumaker at 2-5655 if you have any questions) back to top
Unused stocks and contaminated waste which may include: plant or animal tissue, electrophoresis gels, samples mixed with liquid scintillation counting solution and gloves contaminated during the handling of radioisotopes. Short-lived isotopes (like 32P) may be held in the lab until they decay to a negligible level (>10 half lives). Longer-lived radioisotopes (t½ > 30 days) should be sent to EH&S for disposal.

4.6A Radioactive Solid waste:

• plant / animal waste: double bag in heavy clear plastic bags, seal opening, make sure outer surface is clear of contamination. Label contents and activity.
• gloves, paper towels, Bench Kote™: if they only contain trace amounts of radioactivity, dispose of in regular garbage. However, it they contain substantial radioactivity (e.g. after cleaning up a spill or if used to handle concentrated stock solutions), collect in a clear plastic bag (double bag), seal, label and send to EH&S.

4.6B Radioactive Liquid Waste:

• stock solutions: (concentrated solutions, highly radioactive) should seal bottle in a clear plastic bag before packaging.
• non-flammable: place in glass bottles (maximum 4L each) with a screw cap lid. Don't fill more than 90% of bottle capacity. Label bottle with isotope and activity.
• flammable: (e.g. scintillation cocktail solution):
  i) in plastic counting vials(<20 mL each ): can package in original boxes and send for disposal. Can also bag in clear heavy plastic bags (double bag).
  Note: organic solvents may permeate through the plastic so don't store these for extended times (weeks) before sending for disposal.
  ii) in glass vials: you must transfer solution into a glass jug (maximum 4L) with a screw cap. Don't overfill the bottle, leave some air space. Label bottle with isotope and activity.

The outer surface of all bags and bottles should be clean and free of contamination and the contents labelled on the bag/bottle. Items should be packaged securely in a cardboard box. Attach a list of the contents to the outside of the box and include the name of radiation permit holder and room number. Complete the form "Request for Disposal of Radioactive and Chemical Wastes" (available from Biostores or online).

4.7 Batteries: are collected at Biostores (Z207) for disposal. Alkaline batteries are non considered hazardous and may be disposed of in the garbage. Rechargeable batteries like Ni-cad (nickel cadmium), lead gel or lead-acid batteries do contain hazardous materials and should be disposed of by EH&S. Also, the small button batteries used in watches, calculators and cameras may contain mercury, silver or lithium and should also be disposed of as hazardous waste.

5. Packaging for Transport and Disposal by Environmental Health and Safety: back to top

All waste must be properly identified, labelled and packaged so it does not leak during transport. Hazardous waste can be picked up directly from your lab or, for small quantities, you can move the items to the Chemical Waste Room at the loading dock for pickup.

5.1 Pickup items directly from your lab:
(may include chemical, sharps, biohazards and radioisotopes)

1. all items must be clearly identified: unknowns are not accepted for pickup. (you must have unknowns identified at your own expense).
"Organic Waste" is not an adequate label. List all the contents like: formalin (~5%) + acetic acid (~3%) + methanol (~10%). A label like "D76 solution" is also unclear; add the text "waste photographic developer".

2. If you are putting the material into a previously used can or bottle, you must remove or deface the original lable.

3. for packaging, separate different compounds into groups according to their chemical properties. These are the same groupings that lab chemicals are supposed to be sorted into to avoid a violent reaction if an accident occurs (see Chemical Segregation page ). Pack grouped items in boxes and attach a list of the contents to the outside of the box (include lab number and supervisors name on the list). For large plastic containers like the red fire safety cans, if you wish to have it returned when empty, make sure this is indicated on the container along with your building and room number.

4. items should be contained in glass or plastic bottles (or bags) with screw caps (not stoppers or Parafilm™) and with the contents clearly identified on the outside:

• chemical name (not the formula)
• approximate amount (mass, volume, concentration or radioactivity)
• if radioactive, radiation level at the surface of the package .

5. At the UofA, it is not necessary to segregate chlorinated solvents (chloroform, methylene chloride, carbon tetrachloride) from non-chlorinated (xylene, acetone, pentane, methanol). However, if you are at other institutions, this may be required as the disposal system may differ.

6. certain items are not eligible for pickup by OH&Safety (e.g. propane tanks, explosives, unknowns, etc). This is why it is important to accurately complete the form with a list of all items for pickup. Contact the Office of EH&Safety (Tony Selinger 2-0144 or Chris Sheppard 2-4002) if you have any questions.

7. You need to complete the form: "Request for Disposal of Radioactive and Chemical Waste" (available at the Biostore Room Z207) or submit an electronic form. Send the paper copy (campus mail) to the address on the form: Waste Disposal, Office of Environmental Health and Safety, 107 Education Car Park. The waste will be picked up from your lab, usually within 2 days and Tony will leave the original request form for your records (especially important for radioactive waste).

5.2 Pickup items from room G204C on the loading dock: back to top
(for chemical and sharps waste only - no other biohazards, no radioisotopes)

There is a small room at the loading dock (G204C) that may be used for storing waste chemicals and sharps destined for disposal. It is for small quantities of Chemical Waste or Sharps only: NO other Biohazards, NO Radioactives. If you have two carts of chemicals, have them picked up directly from your lab as space is limited in this room. Please note that this is an unsupervised room and users must comply with some simple procedures to avoid problems related to improperly packaged or unidentified materials being left. The door is locked. The key can be borrowed from the Biostores during business hours after you print your name, lab number and date in the logbook.

Under no circumstances is material to be left unsecured on the loading dock if it cannot be placed safely into G204C. Take it back to your lab and try to deliver it at another time.

Identify each item:
Each item placed in this room must be clearly identified with:

• chemical name (not formula)
• quantity/concentration
• supervisors name
• lab room number

If the material is packed in a box, then the lab name/supervisor name need only be on the outside of the box. Otherwise, each item must be labeled with this information. Be sure any oxidizers are physically separated from other chemicals in the room.

List your items on a Disposal form: (Request for Disposal of Radioactive and Chemical Wastes)

• for one or two items, simply add the information on to the active form on the clipboard. Indicate which lab this is from next to the entries (see example posted in room).
• If you have submitted your own form directly to OH&Safety (either campus mail or email), then attach a photocopy or a list of items to the material you leave in the room.

Please have some consideration for the people who will have to handle this material after you:

• if you have several small bottles, box them up. Use one box for each group of similar chemicals.
• make sure the outside of the containers are clean, not contaminated with anything.
• make sure the material is fully identified so that the proper disposal method can be made.
• don't overfill liquid containers, fill to a maximum of 90% capacity to leave room for expansion.
• make sure boxes are not too heavy. Several smaller boxes are better than a single 30kg package.
• for particularly hazardous items, place each in a clear plastic bag and seal the bag. This could include things like: oxidizers, bear spray, neurotoxins, carcinogens, etc). If the contents cannot be readily identified within the bag, then apply a label to the outside of the bag.

If you have any questions, contact the personnel in Biostores (Z207) or Barry McCashin (CW315A) at 2-2399.

6. Contacts for further information: back to top

Barry McCashin; Biological Sciences Safety officer x2-2399
Carl Shumaker; Radiation Protection officer x2-5655
Tony Selinger; Hazardous Waste Management x2-0144
Chris Sheppard; Chemical Safety Technician x2-4002
Ken Yu; Biosafety officer x2-3142
Don Koziol; Biosafety Technologist x2-0122

July 13, 2001 BGMcC