A Brief Guide to Laboratory Disposal
** Please note: These guidelines are Clinton Community College’s procedures for disposal. It is for your information and does not imply that
faculty or students carry out the complete process. You ARE required to follow these procedures as far as the underlined sections.
Segregating wastes is not only a safe thing to do it is also the Law.
Vers. 1-13
Category
Nature of Item
Glass pipettes used
Pipettes:
with bacterial
(long
calibrated) cultures
Gloves:
Sharps:
(often
metal but
not glass)
How to Dispose:
1- Place in Autoclave Safe biohazard bag. Autoclave.
OR 2- Immerse pipette in sterilizing solution tip first ( i.e. fresh10% bleach) for at least 20 minutes.
FOR ALL: Discard in hard plastic Bio Hazard Buckets for GLASS DISPOSAL.
Glass pipettes not
used with bacterial
cultures
Plastic pipettes used
with bacterial
cultures
Plastic pipettes not
used with bacterial
cultures
FOR ALL: Discard in hard plastic Blue Buckets for GLASS DISPOSAL.
Not used with
bacterial cultures.
Used with bacterial
cultures.
Use General Waste receptacles
ALL BLADES or
NEEDLES /
SYRINGES of any
kind
Place in a dedicated SHARPS CONTAINER found on the counter top in each lab. This will be a
RED tamper-resistant container marked as biohazard.
Scalpel Blades
To remove scalpel blades use a specially designed blade remover / storage container. This devise
will grasp the blade making removal safe and the blade then drops in a holding area for storage until
full. When full dispose in SHARPS CONTAINER.
1- Place in Autoclave Safe biohazard bag. Autoclave.
OR 2- Immerse pipet in sterilizing solution tip first ( i.e. fresh10% bleach) for at least 20 minutes.
Discard in hard plastic Bio Hazard Buckets for GLASS DISPOSAL.
FOR ALL: Discard in hard plastic Blue Buckets for GLASS DISPOSAL.
Use BIOHAZARD WASTE (lined with RED biohazard bag) containers ONLY !
Category
Nature of Item
Glass:
(other
than
pipettes)
Broken lab ware
ALL glass should be disposed of in the hard plastic Blue Buckets for GLASS DISPOSAL found in
(not contaminated by each lab. As a general rule, if a reagent bottle of a hazardous chemical breaks the pieces of the
significant quantity of container should be included with the chemical itself when storing and/or disposing of it.
chemical or bacteria )
Slides
( cheek cells / fresh
bacteria / etc. )
Slides ( all other )
Chemical : ALL CHEMICALS
Bacterial
Cultures:
Culture on agar in
plastic plate (petri
dish) OR plastic tube
broth or agar
Broth Culture in
screw-top or slip top
Glass test tube
Agar Culture in
screw-top or slip top
Glass test tube
Preserved
Materials:
Specimens Preserved
in a formaldehyde
free process
(marked as such)
Specimens Preserved
with formaldehyde
(marked as such)
How to Dispose:
Place slides in a 10% Bleach solution for a minimum of 10 minutes. Drain solution into sink.
Dispose of slides into hard plastic buckets for GLASS DISPOSAL
Dispose of slides into hard plastic Blue Buckets for GLASS DISPOSAL
!! Never put any chemical down the drain !! SEE SOP #15 Chemical Waste from Lab to Storage
Located in Chem Hygine Plan folder. Also see the Instructor, MSDS, Flynn Catalog or Science Lab
Tech for Instructions.
Set items to be autoclaved in designated area.
Place plates in an Autoclave Safe bag then close bag with sterilization sensitive tape. Double bag if
volume of plates is large. Autoclave at 121ºC for 15 minutes. Then place sterilized material in
BIOHAZARD WASTE container for removal.
Set items to be autoclaved in designated area.
Autoclave tubes ( with caps slightly loose ).
Discard test tubes in Bio Hazard Buckets for GLASS DISPOSAL
Set items to be autoclaved in designated area.
Autoclave tubes ( with caps slightly loose ). Then dump contents of tube into a beaker to solidify.
Place solidified agar in a BIOHAZARD WASTE container. Wash test tubes or discard in GLASS
DISPOSAL
Make certain all instruments have been removed.
Bag the specimens in the designated lined containers.
*** NOTE *** NO preserved specimens are to be placed in Red Biohazard Bags
Make certain all instruments have been removed.
Bag the specimens in the designated lined containers.
*** NOTE *** NO preserved specimens are to be placed in Red Biohazard Bags