UWA Safety and Health co-ordinates two University-wide collections of unwanted and/or waste chemicals per year.
Compliant labels can be printed for chemicals using ChemAlert by:
- opening ChemAlert
- entering the chemical requiring a label into the terms to search box
- right-clicking on the product requiring a label and selecting view/print product report
- selecting the desired label size from the Report Type drop-down box
- clicking on the label setup button and selecting the desired number of labels
- clicking view/print button.
Unpackaged and unlabelled containers will be accepted but will incur a higher cost of disposal.
On the day of the collection
Safely transport your chemicals to the collection point
Unpackaged chemicals must be transported in secondary containers – this is to ensure that if the primary container fails the chemical will not be spilt. The secondary container (a tray or a box) should be capable of containing the chemical if the first fails.
Packaged chemicals should be transported carefully – trolleys are recommended.
Collection points will be assigned after all inventories have been received based on the volumes of chemicals generated by different areas. A rough collection time will also be given, but times may change on the day.
Do not leave your chemicals unattended while awaiting collection
At no time may the chemicals be left unattended. Safety and Health will not take responsibility for your chemicals – you must wait with them until they are accepted by the representative of the chemical waste collection company. At all times we will aim to be as quick as possible, but delays are possible and this could mean that you must wait a while – allow a fair amount of time on the day.
If others ask you to take their chemicals on the day because they cannot wait, we advise that you politely refuse. If there is any problem with the records, labels or the chemicals themselves you will have to try and resolve them – this could result in your delivery taking a lot longer than it should, or even in the chemicals being refused and you having to take them back to your lab
Cost of disposal
The cost of disposal of chemicals this way is much lower than areas disposing on their own as the call-out fee will be shared by all schools/areas involved. The business unit that has generated the waste is responsible for charges for the specific waste. The cost of the service will be advised once a comprehensive list of all chemicals has been processed, and it will depend on the volume and type of waste.
Things to consider
How old is the chemical?
If the chemical has been sitting in the container for a number of years there may be some hazards associated with moving it. For example there have been cases where chemicals have been stored for a long time in sealed Winchesters – in this time crystals have formed, or pressure has built up in the bottles, and the containers have later exploded without warning.
Moving containers like this increases the risk of explosion. If your chemicals are old read the Material Safety Data Sheet very carefully before you move them at all and contact the Chemical and Safety Adviser if you are still unsure.
Could this chemical be useful to someone else?
If you have unwanted chemicals that may be of use to others in the University, or you are looking for a chemical that you think others may not need, there is useful information on the Surplus or unwanted chemicals page.
