Hazardous waste disposal at ETH

Wednesday afternoon, 3.00 pm: things are in full swing on the lower ground floor of the HCI building on Hönggerberg. People dressed in laboratory coats are pushing disposal carts through the corridors, liquids are quietly sloshing in non-descript vessels. We are at one of ETH’s three hazardous waste disposal points, where everything that has no place in domestic waste and waste water is disposed of. This includes, for instance, chemicals, carcasses and glass waste from the laboratories.

100 tonnes of hazardous waste per year

Some 100 tonnes of hazardous waste are generated every year across the university. More than half of it, about 60 tonnes last year, consists of solvents that are used every day in the numerous laboratory experiments. The solvents are collected in two 3,000-litre containers in the hazardous waste disposal point in the HCI: the chlorinated ones in one container, and the non-chlorinated solvents in the other. Equipped with gloves, laboratory coats and protection goggles, the more experienced members of ETH can pump the solvents into the containers themselves. Anyone confronted with this task for the first time, i.e. students after their first practical laboratory course, is instructed by the on-site disposal specialist of the Safety, Security, Health and Environment (SSHE) staff unit. About once a month a double-chamber tanker comes to pick up the liquids collected. The chlorinated solvents are sent to high-temperature incineration, while the non-chlorinated ones are used in a cement factory as a diesel substitute to generate power.

A further disposal point for hazardous waste is on the Zentrum campus, to be precise in the CNB on Universitätsstrasse, and a third one is also on Hönggerberg in the HPL. But the biggest proportion of hazardous waste is delivered to the HCI. In addition to solvents, this also includes oils, emulsions, sharps (pointed and sharp-edged objects) or radioactive waste. Depending on the radioactive activity and half-life, the latter is temporarily stored in an insulated room for some time before it can be disposed of.

Waste can also be valuable

However, the operations in the HCI not only include interim storage and disposal, but also recycling. «Thanks to our separate collection of photo chemicals, the disposal company can recover up to two kilograms of silver per year by using a simple separation method,» says Guido Krucker, who has headed up hazardous waste disposal in the HCI for 12 years. The trained chemical technician co-developed ETH’s disposal concept and is the first point of contact for disposal matters. He is supported by graduate chemist Martin Frei, who has been in charge of the further transport of hazardous goods as ETH’s official hazardous goods officer for five years. According to the European Agreement concerning the International Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Road, Martin Frei labels every bucket, every can, every container with the corresponding international UN numbers and hazard stickers.

The precise locations and opening hours of the hazardous waste disposal points can be found here. During the semester, the SSHE staff unit holds monthly introductory courses into hazardous waste disposal, which include a guided tour of the disposal point in the HCI. All information can be found in the SSHE course calendar.