Laboratories
generate a lot of waste. Does anyone really think about what happens with the
stuff once it goes into the bin?
Back in
the day no matter what rubbish I generated in the lab went into a dustbin which
"Auntie Pat" (the nice lab assistant in microbiology)
then autoclaved. "Auntie Pat" and her assistant (Val?)
spent all day every day autoclaving pretty much everything the lab staff
touched, and once autoclaved, the resultant slurry got incinerated.
These days everything has a "waste stream". A rather trivial matter? Not really. Putting the wrong waste into the wrong bin can be dangerous, to say nothing of resulting in a pretty hefty fine, so it is important to get it right. Here’s a useful guide.
Not belittling the matter in any way, wouldn't it be easier to have Auntie Pat and Val autoclave the lot (like they always used to)? I suspect that while it would be easier, it wouldn't be cheaper...
(oh – the piccie was something I blagged from the internet…)
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