Identification & Segregation of Chemical Wastes

The easiest and most effective way to maximize the waste treatment system here at CU is to identify it and segregate it from other certain waste streams. These rather simple sounding techniques are clearly from a treatment perspective the most valuable tools available to the treatment system operator.
As obvious as this sounds it is not an easy task for this is a busy world in which we live. Most people consider all waste, hazardous or not, as simply trash. “What do I care? It is garbage just make it go away…” So in this manner they “think” there are few if any consequences for consolidating all of it.

Proper Identification:

The hazardous wastes generated on campus are picked up based on a work request which call a waste tag. This tag is a very simple form that has a specific section dedicated to waste description. All too often people ignore this portion of the tag. Herein is a key to minimizing waste and maximizing treatment.
Fill out the tag completely.
The treatment processes used at the University are configured to a waste stream or characteristic. There is no magic black box that the waste is poured into and out comes water. The system is balanced. Thus for example if you introduced color film solution which contains selenium into a black & white batch, the selenium ion displaces the silver we are extracting and it contaminates the entire batch causing delays, extra costs and damages the exchange columns.
All too often people think “hey it’s only a little amount it makes no difference” – nothing further from the truth could be said. We are dealing in milligrams per liter of contamination – roughly for a visual, is imagine one drop of cream in a tanker truck of coffee - everything counts; we need to know, to the best of your knowledge, what is in the waste before we can treat it.

Segregation:

Another thing you the waste generator can do to maximize the amount of waste we treat is to separate as best as possible the metals in solutions in addition to accurate identification. Metals that we would prefer to see separated are:
Arsenic, Barium, Cadmium, Chromium, Lead, Mercury, Selenium and Silver
(A.K.A. the RCRA Eight)
In addition the City of Boulder regulates:
Copper, Molybdenum, Nickel and Zinc
(These metals also interfere with aerobic & non-aerobic digestion treatment of the waste at their water treatment works)
We appreciate that many waste generators are conducting cutting edge research and are reluctant to disclose the precise nature of the waste materials but if at a minimum these listed wastes can be at least segregated from other treatable wastes such as photography solutions, acids/bases and trace organics we can maximize the amounts of wastes treated and reduce the impact to both natural resources and the environment.