Waste Minimization Program

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• Waste Minimization Program
• University of Nebraska Lincoln

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Waste Minimization

• Collectively describes source reduction and
  recycling activities.
• Source reduction-a practice that reduces the
  amount or toxicity of hazardous materials that
  enter the environment.

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Source Reduction

• Achieved through one or more methods
• Equipment modification
• Procedure modification
• Reformulation of products
• Improvements in housekeeping, maintenance,
  training, or inventory control

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Recycling

• The use, reuse, or reclamination of a material
  that would otherwise be disposed.

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Why Waste Minimization?

• Saves money
• Saves time
• Reduces regulatory burdens
• Reduces risk of exposure to chemicals
• Preserves the environment

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Regulatory Issues

• Always keep containers closed
• Label waste containers properly
• Fill out Hazardous Materials Collection Tags
  completely
• Store chemicals properly

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Consequences of Non-compliance

• Fines
• Accidents
• Exposure to chemicals

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Waste Minimization Projects
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Equipment Change Replace Traditional
Solvent Using HPLC Columns with Aqueous Solution

• Eliminated the use of acetonitrile and methanol
• Reduced chemical acquisition costs by 3500.00
  per year
• Reduced disposal costs by 150.00 per year

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Mercury Thermometer Exchanges

• Replaced 129 mercury thermometers with mercury
  free ones in Biological Sciences and Biochemistry
  
• Eliminates the hazards of working with mercury

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Method SubstitutionOdyssey Infrared Imaging
System

• Eliminates the use of radioactive materials
• Eliminates the use of photographic fixer

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Equipment Change Vitamin Analysis Using
Narrow-bore HPLC Columns

• Replaced 4.6 mm HPLC columns with 2mm columns
• Reduced volume of solvents by 80
• Old- 112 liters of solvent (2220.00 yr)
• New- 28 liters of solvent (470.00 yr)
• Disposal costs reduced by 80.00 yr

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Method Substitution Accelerated Solvent
Extractor to Replace Traditional Soxhlet
Extractions

• Reduces solvent usage
• from 730 liters to 70 liters per year
• Reduces chemical acquisition costs by 12,000.00
  per year
• Reduces disposal costs by 1100.00 per year

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Method Substitution Vacuum Concentrator and
Mobile Phase Recycling

• Micro-volume equipment used to accomplish
  extraction and concentration of proteins
  resulting in a decrease of solvent usage by 80
• Reduced solvent use by 480 liters per yr
• Reduced acquisition costs by 9785.00 per yr
• Reduced disposal costs by 750.00 per yr

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Method Substitution Replaced Wet Chemistry
Methods with Gravimetric Methods to Determine
Organic Matter in Soils

• Eliminated the generation of potassium dichromate
  
• Reduced chemical costs by 1050.00 per year
• Reduced disposal costs by 200.00 per year

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Equipment Change Oil Free Diaphragm Pumps to
Replace Water Aspirator

• Replaced water aspirator with a diaphram pump in
  the rotary evaporation process
• Decreases water use by 250,00 gallons a year

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Method Substitution PCR for Radio Labeling

• Using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR)
  technique instead of radioactive labeling will
  eliminate the use of radioactive isotopes saving
  670.00 a year
• It will eliminate the use of photographic fixer
  for those experiments

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• What ideas do you have for waste minimization in
  your lab?

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• QUESTIONS?