GUIDELINES FOR DISPOSAL OF GLASS
Glass must be disposed of properly to prevent cuts and adverse health effects from contaminated glass. Guidance on routine disposal of ordinary glass, correct disposal of fluorescent tubes and disposal of glassware from laboratories is given below.
1. ROUTINE GLASS DISPOSAL
3 OPTIONS FOR AREAS OTHER THAN LABORATORIES
- Recycle: Some areas of the University have organised a glass recycling service. Where this exists, glass can be collected into a dedicated local bin or container and transfered to the recycling bin. Borosilicate glassware (eg. pyrex) cannot be recycled.
- Industrial Waste: Where no recycling service is available, glass can be collected into a dedicated local bin or container and transfered to the nearest industrial waste bin.
- Normal Waste: Glass can be wrapped in paper or otherwise packaged to prevent contact with sharp edges and placed into the normal garbage bins.
2. FLUORESCENT TUBES
Fluorescent tubes should be placed directly into industrial waste bins.
3. LABORATORIES
See also Clinical and Related Waste - Guidelines for Management, Disposal of Sharps and Guidelines for Hazardous Waste Disposal.
- All small items (eg. < 500 ml beaker) should be placed in sharps containers for collection by the University's special waste contractors. Sharps containers should conform with AS4031-1992. Collection of full sharps containers should be arranged through the Hazardous Waste Collection Service coordinated by the Risk Management Office.
UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES MAY SHARPS CONTAINERS BE DISPOSED OF IN GARBAGE BINS OR INDUSTRIAL WASTE BINS; NEITHER MAY THEY BE EMPTIED INTO GARBAGE BINS OR INDUSTRIAL WASTE BINS FOR RE-USE. - Large items of intact or broken laboratory glassware should be decontaminated before disposal. Once cleaned of any chemical contamination and sterilised or disinfected to remove any microbiological contamination, the glass can be disposed of by transferring to a recycling bin or to an industrial waste bin.
Where large items of glass are known to be clean and uncontaminated by chemicals or micro- organisms, they may be disposed of directly to an industrial waste bin or recycling bin if available and appropriate. - NB: BOROSILICATE glassware such as PYREX is NOT SUITABLE FOR RECYCLING and should be disposed of by one of the other available methods - ie. industrial waste bin, sharps container or garbage bin.
Notes
Authorised by Risk Management Office 2/6/94
Revised by Leanne Mumford 22/6/01.