Are you an EPFL student looking for a semester project?
Work with us on data science and visualisation projects, and deploy your project as an app on top of Graph Search.
Concept
Chemical waste
Summary
Chemical waste is any excess, unused, or unwanted chemical, especially those that cause damage to human health or the environment. Chemical waste may be classified as hazardous waste, non-hazardous waste, universal waste, or household hazardous waste. Hazardous waste is material that displays one or more of the following four characteristics: ignitability, corrosivity, reactivity, and toxicity. This information, along with chemical disposal requirements, is typically available on a chemical's Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS). Radioactive waste requires special ways of handling and disposal due to its radioactive properties. Biohazardous waste, which may contain hazardous materials, is also handled differently.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) prohibits disposing of certain materials down drains. Therefore, when hazardous chemical waste is generated in a laboratory setting, it is usually stored on-site in an appropriate waste carboy where it is later collected and disposed of by a specialist contractor in order to meet safety, health, and legislative requirements. Many universities' Environment, Health, and Safety (EHS) divisions/departments serve this collection and oversight role.
Organic solvents and other organic waste is typically incinerated. Some chemical wastes are recycled, such as waste elemental mercury.
During packaging, chemical liquid waste containers are filled to no further than 75% capacity to allow for vapor expansion and to reduce potential spills which can occur from transporting or moving overfilled containers. Containers for chemical liquid waste are typically constructed from materials compatible with the hazardous waste being stored, such as inert materials like polypropylene (PP) or polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE). These containers are also constructed of mechanically robust materials in order to minimize leakage during storage or transit.
In addition to the general packaging requirements mentioned above, precipitates, solids, and other non-fluid wastes are typically stored separately from liquid waste.
Official source
About this result
This page is automatically generated and may contain information that is not correct, complete, up-to-date, or relevant to your search query. The same applies to every other page on this website. Please make sure to verify the information with EPFL's official sources.
Related courses (4)
ENV-500: Solid waste engineering
The book "Solid Waste Engineering - A Global Perspective" is the basis for this course. This textbook is an excellent introduction to the field of Solid Waste Engineering and gives insight into releva
ENV-367: Environmental and construction law
Ce cours donne aux étudiant-e-s les connaissances de base nécessaires pour comprendre les dimensions juridiques de leur activité professionnelle concernant l'aménagement du territoire et la protection
ENV-304: Treatment and valorization of water and waste
Les systèmes eaux et déchets en Suisse: du traitement end-of-pipe à la fermeture des cycles. Principes de l'adduction, de l'évacuation et du traitement des eaux. Bases du dimensionnement des ouvrages,
Related lectures (20)
Textile Recycling: Challenges and Solutions
Explores textile waste challenges, fast fashion impact, and recycling solutions for a sustainable circular economy.
Environmental Legislation and Waste Management
Explores environmental legislation, waste management, and the concept of waste disposal.
Hazardous Waste Landfills
Explores hazardous waste landfill management, including food waste composting and landfill closure procedures.
Related publications (19)
Addressing the challenges of homogeneity, quality control and waste handling in soil bio-cementation: A large-scale experiment
Lyesse Laloui, Dimitrios Terzis, Ray Harran
In an attempt to go beyond the conventional laboratory experiments widely reported in literature around the emerging technique of soil bio-cementation, this work addresses key challenges related to its large-scale application. Precisely, a state-of-the-art ...
JAPANESE GEOTECHNICAL SOC2023Decision support methodology for waste-to-value process integration
Rafael Amorim Leandro De Castro Amoedo
Waste treatment is a complex procedure that comprises multidimensional aspects. The challenges posed by the energy transition and international protocols emphasize the role of waste in its material and energy dimension. With an increasing population and li ...
EPFL2023Trends in mitigation of industrial waste: Global health hazards, environmental implications and waste derived economy for environmental sustainability
Majority of industries, in order to meet the technological development and consumer demands generate waste. The untreated waste spreads out toxic and harmful substances in the environment which serves as a breeding ground for pathogenic microorganisms thus ...
ELSEVIER2022Related people (1)
Related concepts (1)
Municipal solid waste
Municipal solid waste (MSW), commonly known as trash or garbage in the United States and rubbish in Britain, is a waste type consisting of everyday items that are discarded by the public. "Garbage" can also refer specifically to food waste, as in a garbage disposal; the two are sometimes collected separately. In the European Union, the semantic definition is 'mixed municipal waste,' given waste code 20 03 01 in the European Waste Catalog.