- Radioactive Waste
- Hazardous (Chemical) Waste
- Ethidium Bromide
- Empty Chemical Containers
- Glassware, Pipets, Pipet tips or Test Tubes (NOT contaminated)
- Sharps
- Needles Syringes with needles Scalpels Suture needles Lancets Other sharp items contaminated with microorganisms or human-derived materials that could puncture skin, e.g., Glass pasture pipettes.
- Items contaminated with microorganisms or human-derived materials that are likely to break during transportation and result in a point or sharp edge
- Human cadavers and/or body parts
- Human cadavers and recognizable human body parts require special handling. Please contact EHS at 2-4911 for guidance.
- Human
- Hospital Waste (generated in patient care areas)
- The Infection Control Manual and on line website have instructions on how to properly dispose of Hospital waste within the patient care areas or or click here for a copy of the chart.
- "Hospital Like" waste (that can be disposed of as regular trash)
- Tissue Culture Waste
- Animal
- Recyclable Material(s)
Radioactive Waste
Radioactive Waste is any material that has been or is likely to have been contaminated with radioactive isotopes.
You are NOT allowed to dispose of any radioactive waste in the laboratory. All RAM must be disposed of through the Radiation Safety Office. There are NO exceptions to this rule!
Since the disposal of hazardous waste is extremely costly and highly regulated, it is very important that the rules of waste segregation be followed carefully. One of the simplest ways to minimize the cost of disposal of your radioactive waste is to keep its production to a minimum. Be sure to separate your radioactive waste from all other forms of waste and trash. Do not mix hazardous chemicals with your radioactive waste unless it is ABSOLUTLEY REQUIRED of your experiment, as mixing two separate hazard classes makes disposal even more difficult and costly.
A. WASTE CONTAINERS:
EHS will provide you with the proper radioactive waste containers upon request. Our cardboard containers for dry solid radioactive material are legally posted with the proper NRC and DOT labels and are easily recognized by Housekeeping and other University staff. Our plastic, bulk liquid containers are guaranteed against leakage under normal conditions of use, and they too are properly labeled and approved for transportation. Do NOT use your own containers for bulk liquid waste. Do NOT use any containers which are not pre-approved by EHS. (Please note that our liquid containers are reused, so please treat them gently.)
B. WASTE SEGREGATION:
Since the disposal of radioactive waste is highly regulated, it is imperative that you fully understand how to segregate all the different types and forms. Radioactive waste must be separated by:
- Physical form Radionuclide (with the exception of H-3 and C-14)
- Activity (particularly for H-3 and C-14)
The six, basic physical forms to be kept separate are:
- Dry solid materials (capped vials containing biosafe scintillation cocktail are allowed) Bulk liquid waste Mixed waste (i.e. bulk liquid waste with EPA- listed hazardous chemicals) Sharps (needles, Pasteur pipettes, broken glassware, etc.) Animal carcasses / pathologic waste
- Lead
The category of "dry solid materials" consists of latex gloves, paper, glassware, biosafe scintillation vials, etc. The following materials are NOT allowed in the dry solid materials containers: uncontained liquids, capped containers with > 50ml of liquid, lead, and blood-soaked items or other biological material. EHS can provide you with 1 and 2 cubic foot boxes for your dry solid waste. Note, however, that our boxes do NOT have needle-proof liners! So please: NO sharps in radioactive waste boxes! Use plastic "sharps boxes" ONLY!
Aqueous liquid waste with volume > 50ml is considered "bulk liquid waste". Do NOT put scintillation cocktail, solids, or other insolubles into bulk liquid waste containers. EHS can provide you with 1/2 and 5 gallon plastic containers for your bulk liquid waste.
Since the University's license does not allow labs to dispose of any radioactive waste, you are also required to put the wash water from the first 2 rinses of contaminated glassware and other small items to be decontaminated into a bulk liquid container. You should also count your wash water before declaring it non-radioactive and pouring it down the drain (two rinses may not be sufficient to remove all contamination). This procedure will assure that virtually no RAM is being released to the sanitary sewer system.
The "mixed waste" category of radioactive waste consists of scintillation vials containing organic solvents with radioactive materials, and bulk liquid radioactive waste containing hazardous chemicals (e.g. methanol, pyridine, TCA, acetonitrile, chlorinated solvents, formamide, etc.). Please consult the Radiation Safety Office before mixing these chemicals with radioactive material. This is the most difficult and costly type of waste to dispose of, and it is vital that its production be kept to a minimum.
"Sharps" consist of needles, Pasteur pipettes, broken glassware, etc. Please use plastic "Gator" / "sharps" boxes for disposal of all sharps! These are available (unlabelled) from Hospital Supply, but you must clearly identify them using radioactive tape if you are putting items contaminated with RAM inside. Once the container is full, close the lid securely and put into a dry solid waste box. Sharps containers are available in a variety of sizes up to a 5 gallon bucket.
Radioactive carcasses must be disposed of in accordance with Radiation Safety policy. Radioactive small laboratory animal carcasses must be placed in green or black plastic bags and labeled on the outside with “Radioactive” warning tape. The laboratory should call the Radiation Safety Office (982-4917) for pickup. Radioactive large animal carcasses must be placed in special radioactive waste bags and boxes provided to the investigator by Radiation Safety, and picked up by Radiation Safety personnel. Radioactive carcasses are never to be transferred to vivaria cold rooms or freezers unless they have been commissioned by Radiation Safety for this purpose.
"Lead" is now classified as a hazardous material and is banned from disposal in sanitary landfills. Even a small amount of lead in ordinary trash going to the landfill can be rejected, and the University can then be forbidden to use this facility. Please keep all lead separate from other forms of waste and package in a labeled cardboard box for pickup. EHS recycles lead by melting them down into blocks to be used as shielding for high energy gamma radiation.
Animal Bedding and Animal Cages
All used animal bedding and cages must be returned to the vivarium.
If the cages were used for animals that were intentionally infected with microorganisms, inoculated with human-derived materials or otherwise considered ABSL-2, the cages must be autoclaved before returning them to the vivarium for bedding disposal and cage cleaning.
If the Researcher does not have access to an autoclave, the cages must be bagged in autoclavable bags and CLEARLY labeled with the biohazard symbol, the agent used and a note stating that they need to be autoclaved before disposing of the bedding.
Animal Carcasses
Biohazardous carcasses and associated tissues, body parts, blood or other animal body fluids are those that have been _intentionally infected_ with organisms pathogenic to humans; inoculated with human derived tissues, fluids or cell lines; or euthanized animals previously held at animal biosafety level 2 (ABSL-2) containment or higher. These carcasses must be put in red plastic bags and sealed before transfer to the designated vivarium storage area biohazardous waste containers located in the vivaria cold room or freezer.
Regular or uncontaminated carcasses (i.e., not containing hazardous chemical, biological or radiological materials) intended for immediate disposal should be placed in green or black plastic bags and put into the biomedical waste containers located in the vivarium cold room or freezer. Similarly, uncontaminated animal tissues, body parts, blood and materials visibly contaminated with animal blood (e.g., gauze) must be placed into a non-transparent plastic bag. These may be the same green or black plastic bags used for carcasses and put into the biomedical waste containers located in the vivarium cold room or freezer.
For information on radioactive animal carcasses refer to the Radioactive Waste Section of the Waste Decision Tree. And for general information on carcass disposal see the ACUC policy at http://www.virginia.edu/vprgs/iacuc/docs/policy_EuthanDeadCarcass.pdf
Empty Chemical Containers
Empty chemical containers should be triple rinsed (collecting the 3 rinsates as Hazardous "Chemical" Waste) and any labels on the containers should be defaced. The dry and empty container can then be placed in your regular trash or taken to a dumpster.
Ethidium Bromide Contaminated Gels
These materials should be put in a 5-gallon plastic bucket, supplied by EHS (photo below). This should be picked up as Hazardous (Chemical) Waste, call 2-4911 or use our Online Request Form.
Broken Glassware, Waste Laboratory Glassware
If they DO NOT contain or ARE NOT contaminated with Radioactive Material (any amount), Chemicals (more than a trace amount) or Biological Material (any amount), then these waste materials are Waste Laboratory Glassware (WLG).
If the do contain or are contaminated with Radioactive Material, Chemicals or Biological Material then dispose of accordingly.
WLG must be put into any ordinary cardboard box, lined with a regular trash bag. Once full, the bag top should be twisted and taped closed, the box top taped shut, and a WLG label (see photo below) applied to the box top. Contact EHS at 982-4911 for WLG labels. These labeled boxes should either be carried directly to the trash receptacle outside of your building, or set outside your lab door for UVA Facilities Management Housekeeping personnel to pick up. These waste materials will be treated as regular trash.
Recyclable Materials
Please contact UVA Recycling at 982-5050 to arrange for the recycling of your material.
Please click here for more information on recycling at UVA.
Infectious Waste
"Regulated Medical Waste"
Examples of this material include:
"Regulated Medical Waste"
- Culture plates and stocks of microorganisms Human Blood, body fluids, tissues (unfixed) Human tissue cultures (unfixed) Items saturated or caked with human blood or body fluids that would release blood or body/fluids in a liquid or semi-liquid state if compressed or would flake if handled.
- Other infectious wastes with the "potential to cause disease"
"Hospital Like" waste
(that can be disposed of as regular trash)
Examples of this material include:
(that can be disposed of as regular trash)
- IV tubing and bags without blood or sharps
- Emptied containers without blood: (pleurovacs, hemovacs, urine or stool cups, Foley and ostomy bags, bedpans, urinals, emesis basins, suction canisters and tubing, etc)
Regulated Medical Waste - Human Body Fluids
These waste materials are Regulated Medical Waste (RMW).
Where possible, these RMW should be carefully poured into a designated flush receptacle (or toilet), which leads to the sanitary sewer system.
Sharps
Examples of "Sharps" that must always be placed in red plastic sharps containers (whether or not the material is contaminated with microorganisms or human-derived materials):
* Needles
* Syringes with needles
* Suture needles
* Scalpels or Lancets
Other items that could puncture skin are deemed "Sharps" and are placed in red plastic sharps containers when contaminated with microorganisms or human derived materials:
* (contaminated) glass Pasteur pipettes
* (contaminated) capillary tubes
* (contaminated) slides or coverslips
* (contaminated) items that are likely to break during
transportation and result in a point or sharp edge
These waste materials are Regulated Medical Waste (RMW).
When the sharps disposal box is ¾ full, it must be closed and put into a Contaminated Material Container or “CMC”* (photo below).
*Available from EHS for waste generated from research activities or purchased for clinical applications through UVa Material Support Services (3-2928).
Tissue Culture Waste
If the material is contaminated with HUMAN blood, blood products tissue or any cell line it is Regulated Medical Waste (RMW). Materials may inlcude contaminated plastic pipette tips, serological pipettes, and disposable labware other than sharps. RMW must be put into Contaminated Material Containers (photo below), available from UVA Material Support Services (3-2928).