Treatment and disposal of chemical waste in daily laboratory work
What is waste?
Waste is defined in the Recycling and Waste Management Act (KrW-/AbfG) as movable goods that their owners intend to dispose of or whose proper disposal is essential to safeguard public welfare and to protect the environment.
How is waste generated in a laboratory?
The life cycle of a chemical compound in a university starts with the supply of the necessary compounds by obtaining them from the warehouse or from a colleague or a student in laboratory courses.
Compounds are used for synthesis or for analysis. Due to the purpose of the application, contaminated starting materials, by-products, used solvents, and used chemicals are generated, which must be decomposed or disposed of, if recycling is not possible.
In contrast to industrial waste, chemical waste from university laboratories is usually small quantities of very complex mixtures. Together they represent a significant amount of waste that must be removed from the university at its expense.
The proper disposal of laboratory waste, which may be different in different locations, depends on the type of experiments carried out and the chemicals used.
But some types of hazardous waste produced cannot be disposed of in their original form and must first be conditioned.
With the help of suitable processes, these residues can be detoxified at the site of formation.
An advantage of detoxification is that it also reduces the risk of contamination by inexperienced personnel when handling it, or of accidents with such waste, and therefore also avoids the risk of environmental contamination.