Waste Disposal

Last Review Date: September 23, 2020


I. Purpose
Waste products, including autoclaved waste, must be removed from the facility and disposed of to ensure a sanitary workplace and to prevent the contamination of work areas with waste materials.

II. Responsibility
LAR staff must remove waste from the animal facility in an efficient and safe manner. Staff must avoid contaminating other areas of the facility while disposing of waste materials.

III. Procedure

A.  Biohazardous waste is placed in red biohazard bags and autoclaved.  After
      autoclaving, the biohazard symbol on the bag is defaced and the bag is placed 
      into regular trash.

B.  All non-hazardous waste is placed into black trash can bags that are a minimum of 3
     mm thick (under IACUC approved guidelines)

C. Once trash is in a bag, the bag is tightly closed to prevent any waste from falling out.

D.  All bagged waste from the NUAIRE Animal Bedding Disposal Unit, bagged waste from
      the autoclave, and bagged waste from trash cans will be collected in the dirty
      cage wash room.

E.  The trash bags are taken to the dumpster outside the Health Science Building to be
     delivered to the local landfill.

F.  Hazardous chemical or biological waste will be stored in plastic bags in a designated
     freezer (HS 015A and SB 028) and will picked-up for disposal as needed by
     Environmental Health.