Waste disposal

Different types of waste and where they go

A lot of waste can go in the regular gray bins, as long as it doesn't contain hazardous chemicals or a lot of liquid, and unless it fits in one of the other waste categories. So if you do a miniprep and want to toss the column after, that can go in regular waste.
Sharps go in the pink sharps container. This includes pipette tips and serological pipettes. When the container is full (not overflowing), close it and drag it out to the freight elevator, and bring a new one back.
We have glass waste in the white and blue cardboard box.
Biohazard waste includes plates and other contaminated materials and goes in the large round red bin with the red bag in it. If you're not sure if something is a biohazard, err on the side of caution and put it in the biohazard waste. When it's full, the red bag can be tied up and taken out to the freight elevator.
Drain disposal policy at Columbia is that nothing can go down the drain except water and bleached cultures. That means we have to collect buffer waste. We have containers to collect all different types of liquid waste and we can always get more. Just label with rough amounts of what the waste container contains using one of the orange sticker labels.

Cardboard boxes: break these down and put next to the freight elevator down the hall.
Plastic and other recyclables: sort into the recycling bins across from the ice room.

Link: https://cumc.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_6gqSpJrYyxX5lul
Waste pickup/supply drop off occurs every Monday and Thursday. Filling out the form by 5 PM the day before will ensure pickup on the following service day.