Environmental Health and Safety

Hazardous Waste Disposal

EHSA

Environmental Health and Safety Assistant (EHSA)

As of July 3, 2023, the process for waste pickup requests transitioned to an online platform: Environmental Health and Safety Assistant (EHSA).

EHSA is used to submit waste for chemical, biological, and radioactive waste pickup requests.

Submit a Pickup Request

New users will need to register for EHSA and use Purdue Login to access the system. Refer to the Quick Reference Guides in the Training/Resources section below for steps to get established as a new user and to submit a pickup request.

Please note that EHSA can only be accessed on a Purdue Network:

If you are using a non-Purdue supported computer or are located off campus, you will need to login to the WebVPN2 first before attempting to access EHSA. View a Purdue IT Knowledge Base article for instructions.

Benefits

Users have benefitted from using the new waste pickup request process in the following ways:

  • Increased transparency to see submitted requests
  • Access to electronic records for waste pickups
  • Ability to create waste pickup request templates 
  • Ease of duplicating repeat pickup requests
  • Request supplies such as disposal tags online

EHSA has also helped create consistency among customer requests and streamline the submission process through a single online system. 

Training/Resources

 

Contact

For general questions and those related to the EHSA system, contact purdueehsa@purdue.edu. For hazardous (chemical) waste questions, contact 765-494-0121 or hazwaste@purdue.edu.

How to Manage Hazardous Waste 


HazWaste-Disposal-Basics.jpg

Introduction

EHS offers pickup services for all hazardous (chemical) waste generated on the West Lafayette campus. A waste pickup request should be submitted through EHSA online (refer to prior section) by the generator of the waste to initiate pickup services. Once the pickup request has been processed, EHS staff will come to your lab to pick up the waste.

Pickup Procedures 

  1. Prior to pickup, all waste must be placed in a designated area within the room where the waste was generated.
  2. All waste must be placed in an appropriate container.
  3. All containers must be capped and labeled.
  4. Complete and submit a hazardous (chemical) waste pickup request through EHSA (see first section above).

If unknown chemicals are present in your lab, please see the Unknown Chemicals page on the EHS website for assistance.

All empty containers should be triple rinsed and either reused or thrown in the trash. With their rinsate being collected.

If you have questions regarding pickup procedures please call 765-494-0121, email hazwaste@purdue.edu or refer to the Hazardous Waste Disposal Guidelines.

Hazardous Materials Pickup Request Hints 

Chemical Description:

  • Provide full chemical names when submitting a request. Do not use acronyms, abbreviations or formulas.
  • The chemicals must be in percent form adding up to 100%. The percentages of each chemical should be accurate but can be rounded to the nearest whole number. For example, 0.01% Benzene can be conveyed on a pickup request as "Trace Benzene", or "<1% Benzene". The following is an example of a good chemical description: "Acetone 50%, Tetrahydrofuran 10%, Chloroform 20%, Acetic Acid 10%, Water 10%, Trace Silver".
  • The description on the container label must exactly match the description entered in the online pickup request.
  • When submitting trade products, read the description of the chemical components on the label, or request an SDS from the manufacturer. This information will provide you with a proper chemical description for the product. If you have an SDS for a product it can be attached to the online pickup request.

Amount of Waste in Container:

Estimate as accurately as possible (i.e. +/- 10%). Use mass units for solids and volume units for liquids.

Spent or Useable:

The material is only useable if you are certain that the chemical is uncontaminated and can still be used for its intended use. Otherwise, consider it spent.

Physical State of the Material:

Solid, liquid and gas are the only designations that should be used. In general, keep solid and liquid wastes separate. If you have a mixture containing both solids and liquids, the rule of thumb is that if any portion of the waste flows as a liquid, call it liquid.

EPA Regulated Waste 

The names and approximate percentages of all the materials listed below must appear in the description of a waste mixture if they are present in any quantity. Quantities under 1%, regardless of how small, can still be listed as "<1%" or "trace".

Regulated Toxic Chemicals ("D-Listed"):

  1. Arsenic
  2. Barium
  3. Cadmium
  4. Chromium
  5. Lead
  6. Mercury
  7. Selenium
  8. Silver
  9. Endrin
  10. Lindane
  11. Methoxychlor
  12. Toxaphene
  13. 2,4-D
  14. 2,4,5-TP (Silvex)
  15. Benzene
  16. Carbon Tetrachloride
  17. Chlordane
  18. Chlorobenzene
  19. Chloroform
  20. o-Cresol
  21. m-Cresol
  22. p-Cresol
  23. Cresol
  24. 1,4-Dichlorobenzene
  25. 1,2-Dichlorobenzene
  26. 1,1-Dichloroethylene
  27. 2,4-Dinitrotoluene
  28. Heptachlor
  29. Hexachlorobenzene
  30. Hexachlorobutadiene
  31. Hexachloroethane
  32. Methyl Ethyl Ketone
  33. Nitrobenzene
  34. Pentachlorophenol
  35. Pyridine
  36. Tetrachloroethylene
  37. Trichloroethylene
  38. 2,4,5-Trichlorophenol
  39. 2,4,6-Trichlorophenol
  40. Vinyl Chloride 

Regulated Solvents ("F-Listed"):

  1. Acetone
  2. Benzene
  3. n-Butyl Alcohol
  4. Carbon Disulfide
  5. Carbon Disulfide
  6. o-Cresol
  7. p-Cresol
  8. Cyclohexanone
  9. Ethyl Acetate
  10. Ethyl Benzene
  11. Ethyl Ether
  12. 2-Ethoxyethanol
  13. Ethylene Glycol Monoethyl Ether
  14. Isobutyl Alcohol
  15. Methanol
  16. Methyl Ethyl Ketone
  17. Methyl Isobutyl Ketone
  18. Nitrobenzene
  19. 2-Nitropropane
  20. Pyridine
  21. Toluene
  22. Xylene 

"F-listed" Halogenated Solvents 

  1. Carbon Tetrachloride
  2. Chlorinated Fluorocarbons (CFCs)
  3. Chlorobenzene
  4. Chloroform
  5. 1,2-Dichlorobenzene
  6. 1,2-Dichloroethane
  7. 1,1-Dichloroethylene
  8. Methylene Chloride (Dichloromethane)
  9. Tetrachloroethylene
  10. 1,1,1-Trichloroethane
  11. 1,1,2-Trichloroethane
  12. Trichloroethylene
  13. 1,1,2-Trichloro-1,2,2-Trifluoroethane

Common Solvents and Liquids that Contain the Above Regulated Chemicals:

  1. Aromatic Hydrocarbons
  2. Creosote
  3. Degreaser Solvents
  4. Diesel Fuel
  5. Duplicating Fluid
  6. Dry Cleaning Fluids
  7. Fuel Oil
  8. Gasoline
  9. Jet Fuels
  10. Kerosene
  11. Lacquer Thinner
  12. Mineral Spirits
  13. Naphtha
  14. Oleum
  15. Paint Thinner
  16. Petroleum Distillates
  17. Petroleum Ether
  18. Petroleum Naphtha
  19. Stoddard Solvent
  20. Thinner
  21. Turpentine
  22. Varsol
  23. White Spirits
  24. Spent Fixer & Developer
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