HAZARDOUS WASTE
Waste Minimization Program: Solvent Waste Reduction
Substitute hazardous solvents with alternate, safer cleaners.
- Reuse solvent for initial rinsing and save new solvent for the crucial final rinse in glassware cleaning.
Ultimately, the goal is to eliminate chromic acid use and waste from labs.
Substitute chromic- sulfuric acid solutions with the following (increasingly hazardous).
- Alconox Lab Cleaner Powder or similar cleaners (non-hazardous)
- Pierce RBS-35 or similar (non-hazardous)
- potassium hydroxide/ethanol (neutralizable)
- dilute hydrochloric acid (neutralizable)
- No Chromix by Godax Labs (color change indicates depletion of ioxidizer ingredient-does contain sulfuric acid)
- Recycle/Recover solvents.
Use spent / recovered solvents for initial rinsing and use fresh solvent only for final rinse. If you plan to use any treatment methods, there are a few regulations with which you must comply. Accumulation of materials for treatment later is prohibited. Permits may be required for some treatments; contact Environmental Health & Safety (x4305) if you need assistance in this area. In general, treatments must be written into the laboratory procedure and justified as beneficial/necessary.
- Distillation is an option but this may require permitting. Calculate the savings against the cost of the permit. Excellent candidates for distillation: xylene, methanol, acetone, toluene.
- In-line solvent recovery systems for liquid chromatography make it easy to recapture up to 80% of high-purity solvents.
See Solvent Recycling by Spinning Band Distillation: Theory, Equipment and Limitations from Reinhart, P.A., Leonard, K.L., Ashbrook, P.C.; Pollution Prevention and Waste Minimization in Laboratories. CRC Press, Boca Raton, 1996.
Visit Environmental Management Services (x4089, 108 Campus Support Facility) for a look.
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