National Academies Press: OpenBook
« Previous: Issue 3
Suggested Citation:"Issue 4." National Research Council. 1994. The Management and Cost of Laboratory Waste Associated with the Conduct of Research. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9289.
×

disposal for researchers who generate waste, beyond the “indirect charges” that all researchers in a university pay for other purposes. Others have avoided direct chargeback because they are concerned that this would lead to such acts of noncooperation by researchers in the waste-management process as, unauthorized and potentially harmful discharges into the normal wastewater stream. Some universities are beginning to require that environmental costs be part of the budget provided to research-funding agencies.

Additional management actions include conducting bids each year for waste-management services and establishing direct relationships with waste-disposal firms, rather than using “middle men.”

Research laboratories have begun to take a number of cost-controlling actions such as substituting less-toxic, more easily disposable materials for the ones currently used. In addition, many types of equipment are now miniaturized, so smaller quantities of chemicals are needed for experiments; this is especially true in a teaching setting in a chemical laboratory, for example. Store managers are also buying chemical materials “just in time,” so there is no need to store hazardous materials for long periods.

Specific steps that have been taken to reduce the need for waste management include attempting to “package” waste better, rather than relying on contractors whose incentive is not necessarily to reduce costs in the research laboratory; reducing radioactive-waste generation; increasing contractor oversight; storing radioactive waste for decay or incineration; focusing waste-reduction activities on the most expensive waste streams; and establishing an inhouse waste-management team, rather than relying totally on outside contractors. Some research facilities have begun to establish on-site disposal facilities that some researchers think will be able to help in containing costs.

Faculty, researchers, and managers have begun to acknowledge the cost of waste management and have an increased dedication to reducing the cost of waste disposal. Specific actions have included education newsletters, award programs, and setting of cost-reduction goals. Visits to and oversight of individual laboratories help researchers to understand waste-management issues and keeps them “on their toes ” with respect to internal regulations. Overall, research institutions have begun to see that compliance with environmental regulations is another, growing cost of doing business.

A number of barriers to cost-controlling actions are described in the previous sections. In particular, regulatory limitations on accumulating waste for more than 90 days and on the commingling of wastes are important, as are restrictions on dealing with substances that are hard to dispose of or are unknown.

ISSUE 4: WHAT CHANGES COULD BE MADE IN THE CONDUCT OF RESEARCH OR THE TRAINING OF RESEARCH PERSONNEL TO IMPROVE MANAGEMENT OF MIXED, CHEMICAL, RADIOACTIVE, AND BIOHAZARDOUS WASTE?

Research institutions have been able to improve the conduct of research relative to environmental considerations. Dissemination of knowledge of new techniques among research institution could help to reduce adverse environmental impacts of research.

Suggested Citation:"Issue 4." National Research Council. 1994. The Management and Cost of Laboratory Waste Associated with the Conduct of Research. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9289.
×
Page 6
Next: Issue 5 »
The Management and Cost of Laboratory Waste Associated with the Conduct of Research Get This Book
×
MyNAP members save 10% online.
Login or Register to save!
  1. ×

    Welcome to OpenBook!

    You're looking at OpenBook, NAP.edu's online reading room since 1999. Based on feedback from you, our users, we've made some improvements that make it easier than ever to read thousands of publications on our website.

    Do you want to take a quick tour of the OpenBook's features?

    No Thanks Take a Tour »
  2. ×

    Show this book's table of contents, where you can jump to any chapter by name.

    « Back Next »
  3. ×

    ...or use these buttons to go back to the previous chapter or skip to the next one.

    « Back Next »
  4. ×

    Jump up to the previous page or down to the next one. Also, you can type in a page number and press Enter to go directly to that page in the book.

    « Back Next »
  5. ×

    Switch between the Original Pages, where you can read the report as it appeared in print, and Text Pages for the web version, where you can highlight and search the text.

    « Back Next »
  6. ×

    To search the entire text of this book, type in your search term here and press Enter.

    « Back Next »
  7. ×

    Share a link to this book page on your preferred social network or via email.

    « Back Next »
  8. ×

    View our suggested citation for this chapter.

    « Back Next »
  9. ×

    Ready to take your reading offline? Click here to buy this book in print or download it as a free PDF, if available.

    « Back Next »
Stay Connected!