Disposal of Chemical Waste

Disposal of chemical waste is something almost every major industry deals with.  Whether it be a service industry like an automobile repair shop or a production industry like a factory, most industries produce chemical waste.  This waste can be very dangerous and hard to deal with depending on the nature of its origin.  Chemical waste is any spent or left over chemical produced by a wide range of industry or processes.  

Chemical waste can be harmless to the environment and may be disposed of in the normal trash.  However, often times the chemical waste is some sort of danger to either human health, the environment, or is a hazard to storage.  Personally, I deal with the chemical waste from labs at Ohio University at my job for the Environmental Health and Safety Center.  A large portion of this waste is hazardous.  We look up the SDS’s for these chemicals and try to figure out were they came from.  The next step is to search for the reactive, corrosive, flammability, flash point and human/environmental risks and properties. 

It is also crucial to determine the acidity of these chemicals.  Strong acids/bases are to be picked up by an outside service while weak acids/bases can be diluted and than disposed of normally.  These properties are also crucial to be aware of because it can effect how long they can sit in that particular container.  An acid for example, can eventually eat through its container.  Also chemicals that are corrosive must be researched before stored in a container.  Many containers may only hold the chemical for a matter of seconds.  Other containers may be approved to hold the chemical but only for a few years.  This is a problem I have run into cleaning out labs at OU.  I have seen some chemicals eat threw their container, the shelf they were on, and part of the floor.  This happened due to neglect.  Often times I come across chemicals that are unlabeled.  This is very tricky because you have to assume the chemical is hazardous, and often times do pH tests on the mystery chemical.  Some industries pose threats of chemicals like solvents and petroleum hydrocarbons entering the storm water system.  In this case, like in an automobile service garage, an oil/water separator is often installed.  Another way of protecting the storm water system is to install fuel catch basins.  This is a raised curb often around fueling stations, the idea being if fuel is spilled it will be trapped in the curb, and than cleaned up.  These curbs are often equipped with ball valves to release water build up during rain etc.  Sometimes chemicals being disposed in research labs are considered narcotics; in this case they are brought to the police.  If the chemical is a very dangerous threat to the environment it must be handled by an outside source.  Often times industries produce a small amount enough of chemical waste it would be impractical to contently keep having a service come to dispose of it.  In this case the chemical may be stored by the company.  Chemical properties are to be known and considered for safety reasons listed above.