Hazardous Waste Disposal

Environmental Health and Safety Assistant

The process for waste pickup requests uses an online platform: Environmental Health and Safety Assistant (EHSA). Word documents, PDFs, Qualtrics, phone calls and other informal methods of pickup requests are no longer accepted.

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

Managing Hazardous Waste

Waste Containers

EHS does not provide waste containers; this is the waste generator’s responsibility. Original containers can usually be reused for waste (e.g., 4-liter glass jar, 5-gallon metal solvent can). The contents of the original container should be compatible with the waste. Waste containers that can be purchased from EHS include 5-gallon buckets, 30- and 55-gallon open and closed top drums. Contact EHS at 765-494-0121 to discuss waste container needs prior to purchase. 20L carboys can be purchased from a Purdue approved vendor.

If requested, reusable waste containers larger than 4L can be returned to the waste generator’s area. Mark the container clearly with “Return to”, the building and room number. Unsuitable containers will not be returned (grossly contaminated, cracked, improper lid, etc.). It can take up to 3 weeks from the date of pickup for a container to be returned. 

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 (pdf).

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 a Safety Data Sheet (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.