SafetyNet #124 - Empty Container Management
Each year thousands of pounds glass and plastic containers that once held hazardous materials are unnecessarily thrown in the campus landfill or shipped off as hazardous waste. In 2006 over 5 tons ended up in landfills. A significant portion of this volume could easily be diverted from landfills through proper reuse and recycling.
An empty container that once held hazardous material must be managed in compliance with regulations enforced by the Yolo County Certified Unified Program Agency. If a container held an Acutely or Extremely Hazardous material, you must dispose of it through EH&S. Do not rinse these containers and never throw them into the trash. The list of acutely hazardous materials can be found in the Code of Federal Regulations Title 40 Section 261.33. The list of extremely hazardous substances is available here.
So what should you do with empty containers in your lab?
Make sure the container is empty
Every container must be completely empty before the container itself is no longer hazardous waste. Containers that are not empty must be sent to EH&S as hazardous waste. A container is empty of pourable liquids if nothing can be poured out or drained when the container is held in any orientation (e.g. tilted, inverted, etc). If the material is not pourable, the container is empty if no material is encrusted on, or adhered to the inside that can be feasibly removed by physical methods (excluding rinsing). Do not rinse a container unless you are able to collect all the rinseate and complete a waste determination on that rinseate. You might have to manage the rinseate as hazardous waste!
Determine the size of the container
If the container is greater than 5 gallons (18.93L) you must write the date it was emptied on the container. You have one year to exercise one of two options:
- Reuse it in your lab or recycle the container through R-4.
- If the container is equal to or less than 5 gallons you are not required to write the date that the container was emptied on it. Now you can reuse these containers in your lab or recycle them through R-4 or send them to the UCD landfill in the regular trash.
A flow chart is provided to assist you in this process.
Please help us reduce the tremendous volume of glass and plastic that ends up in landfills. Please reuse your containers in your lab whenever possible. They often make acceptable hazardous waste containers. If you can’t reuse containers please consider recycling them. R-4 will accept all glass or metal containers and plastics marked with a 
or 
.
Need More Information?
For information about recycling on campus, visit the R-4 group website. Also, a fact sheet entitled “Managing Empty Containers” is available from the California Department of Toxic Substances (DTSC).
For additional information, contact your EH&S Safety Advisor, EH&S at 530-752-1493 or ehsdesk@ucdavis.edu.
Created. 05/2007
JN