Chemical Hazardous Waste Management Training

This training course is for any Yale staff, faculty or student who generates or handles hazardous chemical wastes on campus.

2022: Empty Chemical Container Update: 
A common question that is asked is how should I dispose of the container.  The answer to that question depends on what was in it.  But, first, no matter what was in the container, it must be empty prior to disposal.  Empty means that all free flowing liquid has been removed from the container and used in a laboratory procedure or placed in an appropriate waste container.  If the container held a solid, empty means that only trace amounts of the solid remain.

Once empty, most containers can be disposed of in the regular trash after you have sufficiently rinsed the container with water to remove any residue, poured the rinsate down the drain in the lab, and defaced or removed the labels containing chemical information.  The container can then be disposed of in the regular trash after removing the cap.  To prevent custodians and others handling trash from getting cut, please place glass containers in a regular box, not a biomedical waste box, and tape it shut.  This will prevent the glass bottles from being broken during disposal.  But, remember we would like to encourage you to consider recycling the containers by using them to collect chemical waste.  If the container is to be used to collect a used working solution of the same chemical, the container does not have to rinsed.
 
There are two exceptions to this procedure.
  • As discussed in the training, the first exception is containers that have held acutely hazardous waste.  You will recall that acutely hazardous wastes are the P-listed wastes described earlier in this training program.  If you would like to dispose of a container which held an acutely hazardous waste, complete the hazardous waste tag and affix it to the container; contact EHS for disposal. You can review the P-listed wastes at https://ehs.yale.edu/sites/default/files/files/hazardous-waste-list-acute.pdf. 
  • The second exception is containers that have held a chemical prohibited from drain disposal by the Connecticut Department of Energy & Environmental Protection.  You can review the list of prohibited chemicals at https://s3.amazonaws.com/ehs-training.yale.edu/EHS_PDF/ChemicalProhibitedList.pdf.  If you would like to dispose of a container which held a prohibited chemical, sufficiently rinse the container with water to remove any residue and collect the rinsate in an appropriate container for disposal as hazardous waste.  After the container is rinsed, deface or remove the labels containing chemical information, remove the cap, and dispose of it in the regular trash or use it to collect chemical waste.  A reminder to collect glass containers in a regular box, not a biomedical waste box, and tape it shut.