STORAGE/DISPOSAL > Details

Most college or university medical areas do not themselves transport hazardous waste, treat hazardous waste, or operate a hazardous waste disposal facility. Accordingly, these aspects of the regulations governing these activities are not addressed in the EVC. More typically, your school generates, stores and sends hazardous waste off-site for disposal. Examples of hazardous wastes generated in a medical area include (but are not limited to) waste from the x-ray development process in the form of developer/fixer waste, radiographic x-rays, photochemicals, film processing, scrap film, discarded imaging films, fixer solutions and outdated chemicals.

Often times these materials contain silver at concentrations that would make the material meet the definition of a Special and/or Controlled wastes. Spent fixer and developer can be processed through a silver recovery unit to allow for this material to be managed as non-hazardous. Some schools have these units right at the medical area where the waste is generated, while others have the silver recovery units centrally located. Still others ship the material off-site for silver recovery to be conducted by an outside company. In either case, employees shouldn't assume that photochemicals and waste products can be placed in the waste or poured down the drain without asking supervisors or environmental, health and safety (EH&S) staff about their hazardous waste status.

Spent photographic chemicals (developer and fixer) and silver should not enter the sewer water system. In fact this will likelly be prohibited under your campus trade efflueny discharge agreements. These waste chemicals should be segregated in suitbale containers and sent for silver reclamation and proper disposal.