Chemical Clean Out Days Help Labs Rid Unwanted Chemicals

July 22, 2022

Yale Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) held Chemical Clean Out Days for labs throughout campus earlier this spring as a way for lab staff to get rid of unwanted chemicals in a safe and convenient way.

The Chemical Clean Out Days, which took place on Science Hill, the Medical School Campus, and West Campus, allowed for lab staff to bring their unwanted chemicals in a cart or secondary container to a central location on their campus without needing to tag or inventory the waste. Each container needed to be labeled with its contents and the event did not allow for disposal of radioactive materials or controlled substances for regulatory reasons.

Environmental Affairs staff, the branch of EHS responsible for managing the disposal of all hazardous and otherwise regulated waste on campus, worked with Triumvirate Environmental, Inc., Yale’s hazardous waste vendor, who collected, packed, and transported the waste off campus for final disposal. Roughly 250 drums of waste were shipped off site for disposal. The drums range in size from five gallons to 55 gallons. The smaller drums hold between one to 10 waste containers while the larger drums hold several dozen up to a few hundred waste containers.

These special waste collection days are held periodically to help labs dispose of chemicals that may be sitting around the lab for a long time or waste that they are unsure of how to handle.  Getting rid of unwanted chemicals helps keeps labs clean, which helps lessen the chances of any safety or regulatory issues.

Labs who participated in the Chemical Clean Out Days had a chance to enter a raffle to win a free lunch for their lab. Congratulations to Dr. Caroline Zeiss’ lab in the Yale School of Medicine for winning the raffle.

Please note: This was a special event and there are required processes to dispose of hazardous waste in all other situations. Please see the EHS website for more information. If you have any questions about hazardous waste disposal on campus, please contact EAS at waste.requests@yale.edu or 203-432-6545.