Waste Disposal
Procedures for waste disposal procedures at King’s Buildings.
Please read this guidance together with the SBS Policy and Code of Practice on Waste Disposal available on the Health and Safety wiki.
Health and Safety guidance and policies (wiki)
If you are unsure, please contact your buildings team for advice.
Non-lab waste
There are bins emptied by the cleaners throughout buildings for:
- paper/cardboard,
- plastics/cans,
- food waste, and
- general waste.
Please look carefully when disposing of waste:
- Put your waste in the correct bin.
- Do not put liquids in any of the bins.
- Do not over-fill the bins.
Please follow the guidance in the SBS Lab Waste flow chart below.
| Waste type | Disposal or Stores drop off point |
|---|---|
| Clinical (yellow) waste bags, sharps bins and cytotoxic bins | Take to Stores or Stores drop off point for disposal. |
| Autoclave bags (no more than half-full) | Take to Wash-up and Media for disposal. |
|
Hazardous waste (chemicals, rechargeable batteries etc.) |
Must be disposed via a licenced waste contractor. For more information about hazardous waste, please see the Chemical and hazardous waste page. |
Empty plastic chemical bottles should be rinsed out, the labels defaced and placed into the red bins.
Non-contaminated glass waste should be placed in your appropriate glass waste bin.
Large winchester bottles can be used to discard chemical waste.
There is a collection point for large Winchester bottles outside Waddington freezer room otherwise place into the relevant glass waste bins.
Please contact your building assistant if you require any Winchester bottles to collect chemical waste.
Send these back to your supplier, if possible, otherwise place in the storage point for each building as detailed below:
| Building | Collection Point |
|---|---|
| Ashworth complex | Ash2 loading bay (within black bags) |
| Roger Land | Inside black bag outside stores |
| Rutherford | In metal cupboard in Waddington-Rutherford link |
| Waddington | In black bags outside freezer room |
| Swann | Loading bay on level 1 or within the cages on level 2 and 5 |
Boxes should be collapsed down and taken to the appropriate waste collection trolley for the building – generally there is a rota to remove these to the outside bins.
If you have a large amount to dispose, please take these directly outside to the recycling bins.
For disposing of any small broken electrical waste, please take the items to the appropriate collection point in your building (see below) ensuring any lab equipment is clean and decontaminated with a decontamination certificate attached (download the certificate below).
| Building | Collection Point |
|---|---|
| Ashworth complex | In metal cages outside Ash3 foyer |
| Roger Land | Blue trolley on ground floor near G.07 |
| Waddington and Rutherford | Waddington-Rutherford link (beneath the stairs) |
| Swann | Old Stores |
For any large or refrigerated items, please complete a WEEE (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment recycling) uplift request.
Ensure each item has the decontamination certificate completed and attached.
The item may need to stay in the lab until collection by the contractor as storage space is limited.
These should be taken to the following collection points in the building:
| Building | Collection Point |
|---|---|
| Ashworth complex | Place in the collection box in the Ash1 foyer opposite printer room |
| Roger Land | Take these to Stores |
| Waddington and Rutherford | In the Waddington locker room to be collected by Stores |
| Swann | Old Stores to be collected by Stores |
Please contact your building assistant for a bag and to arrange disposal.
Related links
For further details of the University's waste disposal policies, please visit the Waste Office website.