- Introduction
- What are Waste Minimization and Pollution Prevention?
- Why are Waste Minimization and Pollution Prevention Important?
- Purchasing Chemicals
- Managing Chemical Inventories
- Dealing with an Existing Inventory of Unwanted Chemicals
- Conducting Experiments
- Scaling Down Experiments
- Substituting Materials
- Alternatives to Wet Chemistry
- Reusing and Recycling Chemical Resources
- Segregating Waste Streams
- In-Laboratory Treatment of Wastes
- Working with School Administrators, Students, Other Schools, and the Community
- Getting More Information
- »Appendix A—Waste Minimization Checklist«
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The following checklist is designed to help you minimize the amount of waste generated in the laboratory. The list is not all-inclusive, but should serve as a starting point for your efforts.
Purchasing Chemicals
 | Develop a purchasing strategy for chemicals and other hazardous materials. |
| Purchase chemicals in smaller sizes. |
| Standardize chemical purchases across classes or laboratories. |
| Designate a single person to be responsible for purchasing chemicals and monitoring inventories. |
| Link purchasing requests into an inventory system so that excess chemicals in stock can be used before buying more. |
| Find a supplier who will accept unopened chemicals that are returned, or will otherwise support waste minimization efforts. |
Managing Chemical Inventories
Institute inventory control
| Conduct a school-wide inventory to identify where chemicals are located. |
| Designate a centralized place for chemical storage and another for waste storage, with spill containment. |
| Organize your chemical and waste storage systematically to keep like chemicals together. |
| Adopt a standard labeling procedure for chemicals and waste, using labels that are colorfast and permanent. |
| Designate who is responsible for labeling and inventory control. |
| Use tags, bar codes, or some other system to establish a computer tracking of chemicals. |
| Use a first-in/first-out policy. |
| Return expired material to supplier. |
| Perform regular inventory audits to identify chemicals that aren’t being used. |
| Provide a simple regular listing to chemical users on available chemical stocks, location, and point-of-contact. |
Work on spill and leak prevention
| Keep chemicals and waste containers covered to prevent spills. |
| Install spill and leak protection in chemical storerooms, including berms, sumps, or even simple plastic containers. |
| Anchor storage cabinets to walls and floors. |
| Periodically inspect stored chemicals for signs of leakage, poor storage practices, or any other problems. |
| Keep a record of spills and leaks and note why they happened and how they can be avoided in the future. |
Conducting Experiments
Teach resource-efficient policies
| Use solvents and other hazardous materials sparingly. |
| Have students monitor reactions closely and add only what’s needed. |
| Emphasize conservation of water, electricity and other general resources. |
Set up experiments with waste minimization in mind
| Pre-weigh chemicals for students. |
| Have students work in teams. |
| Demonstrate some experiments rather than having the entire class perform them. |
| Use spent/recovered solvents for an initial rinse and fresh solvents for a final rinse. |
Include final steps in experiments to destroy or inactivate hazardous substances
| Neutralize acids and bases. |
| Perform chemical conversions to non-hazardous substances. |
| Provide students with the opportunity to research waste minimization techniques. |
Scaling Down Experiments
| Reduce scale of experiment (and associated quantities of chemicals) where possible. |
| Move to microscale chemistry. |
Substituting Materials
Substitute less hazardous chemicals for more hazardous ones
| Use laboratory detergents rather than hazardous cleaning baths (e.g., substitute detergents for chromic acid solutions). |
| Use non-halogenated rather than halogenated solvents (e.g., substitute cyclohexane for carbon tetrachloride). |
| Use less toxic/hazardous solvents rather than more toxic/hazardous solvents. |
Finding Alternatives to Wet Chemistry
| Substitute computer simulations, videos, etc. for actual experiments. |
| Use alternatives to solvent-based extraction (e.g., Solid Phase Microextraction or Supercritical Fluid Extraction). |
| Use instruments in place of wet chemistry (e.g., chromatography, spectrophotometry, atomic absorption, nuclear magnetic resonance, X-ray diffraction). |
Reuse and Recycling
Establish a chemical swap
| Set up an internal surplus chemical exchange. |
| Participate in an outside chemical/waste exchange program. |
Reclaim solvents
| Filter spent solvent for reuse. |
| Distill spent solvents on-site. |
| Recycle solvents via a solvent recycling service. |
Reclaim metal-bearing waste
| Identify an outside industry interested in taking metal-bearing waste for recovery. |
Segregating Individual Waste Streams
Segregate wastes
| Keep hazardous waste separate from non-hazardous waste. |
| Keep organic waste separate from inorganic waste. |
| Keep different groups of solvent separate (e.g., halogenated vs. non-halogenated solvents). |
| Keep incompatible materials separated (ignitables and oxidizers; acids and bases; oxidizers and reducers, etc.). |
In-Lab Treatment
| Neutralize acids and bases |
| Perform chemical conversions to create non-hazardous substances. |
Strategies for the Entire School
Create a Lab or School-wide Program
| Create a waste minimization team composed of students, teachers, and administrators. |
| Develop a written statement of commitment to waste minimization. |
| Perform a waste audit of the school/lab. |
| Provide a forum or suggestion box for waste minimization/pollution prevention ideas. |
| Set up waste minimization education sessions for students/staff. |
| Set up specific reduction goals (e.g., 50% reduction in amount of waste generated per year). |
Implement other (non-laboratory) waste minimization/pollution prevention opportunities
| Perform routine maintenance of school equipment to fix leaks, avoid accidents. |
| Reduce use of fertilizers and pesticides on school grounds. |
| Compost grass and other trimmings. |
| Keep school vehicles properly tuned up. |
| Maintain air conditioner and heater filters to reduce energy consumption. |
| Replace inefficient lighting with compact fluorescent or other energy-smart lighting. |
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