We are increasingly more conscious about safety: the safety of our fellow workers, the public and our environment.

Our lawmakers have heard these concerns and have instituted policy that REQUIRES Research and Development facilities and industry to take care of any waste after a project is complete. In fact, these requirements have become so strict that there are penalties charged to companies who do not properly dispose of their waste products.

At Los Alamos National Laboratory, this translates to fines or fees charged against Groups who neglect to properly dispose of their waste. This includes any staff or crafts that support your project or any hosts to visitors conducting experiments. Each worker is responsible for his or her own waste-but, be aware...

....if you work for another contractor or subcontractor you are STILL responsible for waste produced during the project you supported.

Gone are the days when we could just throw everything into a dumpster or into the back of a pickup truck and take it to salvage or the landfill and consider our site cleaned up. Today, we each have individual responsibilities for the waste we produce. This training will help you understand your responsibilities, with the help of a WMC, to:

•identify or characterize any waste you create,
•decide how to dispose of the waste, and
•document, document, DOCUMENT

You will never be expected to do this alone, LANL & LANSCE have identified people to help you do this. Those people are called the Waste Management Coordinators (WMC's). The WMC's will help you-but, you must know that you have a waste and know to contact the WMC for assistance.

LANSCE Waste Management Coordinators (WMC's) are responsible for assisting you with waste management

1st: Waste Characterization

Waste Characterization is important for environmental, safety and health reasons, as well as complying with regulatory requirements. Having a WMC help you identify, characterize and label your waste allows you and other workers to know what you are working with and how you will eventually throw that waste away.

Your FIRST job is to identify the waste....if possible.

Is it a piece of equipment? Is it an old computer? A box of paper from an old dot matrix printer? A half-spent can of oil used to keep rust off a shop tool? A capacitor from a now defunct experiment?

You will first need to decide if this is a non-radioactive, non-hazardous, solid waste or not. A non-radioactive, non-hazardous, solid waste will not have any radioactive or hazardous material components or constituents nor have had contact with any radioactive or hazardous material.

Sanitary waste includes: paper, cardboard, office supplies, office furniture, junk mail, food waste, wood, brush, alkaline batteries, etc.

Sometimes it may be difficult to decide whether a waste is a non-radioactive, non-hazardous, solid waste.

For example, a supply of paper is delivered in a cardboard box. Is the empty box considered non-radioactive, non-hazardous, solid waste? Can you just throw it in the trash? If the box has not been in a radioactive waste area or hasn't come into contact with mixed waste, the YES it is sanitary waste. You wouldn't want to just throw it away though-the Laboratory has a recycling program that includes many, many items. You will want to recycle paper products if they are non-radioactive, non-hazardous, solid waste.

But, what if you want to change a light bulb? Is the light bulb non-radioactive, non-hazardous, solid waste? Can you just throw it into the trash can? NO, all light bulbs have an internal hazardous material constituent that requires that they be disposed of using hazardous materials guidelines.

The following items should NEVER be thrown in a trash can. Instead, they must be specially handled as hazardous, mixed or universal waste. These types of waste are potentially hazardous, so they must be segregated and disposed of in a special way. Call a WMC to help you with characterization and disposal. This is NOT a complete list, so if you are uncertain-call the WMC.

Again, if you think you may have produced a hazardous waste, contact a WMC. If you're not sure whether you have a chemical waste or not, call a WMC.

BE AWARE! Once you have produced waste you are personally responsible for it and legally liable if the waste is hazardous or mixed. If you are uncertain, call a WMC.

Any visitor's waste is the responsibility of the host and the host must make the waste determination alone or with a WMC.

2nd: DISPOSAL

If it is obvious and you are absolutely certain that the waste you have created is non-radioactive, non-hazardous, solid waste, dispose of it properly. Check the LANL Homepage click on the "Recycle" icon and locate the proper disposal route. If you have any doubts, contact the WMC. Remember, once you have produced waste, you are personally responsible for it and legally liable if the waste is hazardous or mixed and is disposed of incorrectly. If you are uncertain, call a WMC.

3rd: Document

Whatever method you chose to characterize your waste, or even if you use a combination of methods, it is very important to document your decision. It is each person's responsibility to contact the WMC if you are unsure of the waste you produced. The WMC or designee will use the Waste Profile Form to document the characterization of each waste stream identified.

Methods of waste-minimization include:

Material Substitution: Material substitution is replacing hazardous materials with either non-hazardous or less-hazardous materials or replacing disposable materials with reusable materials. Can you use a different material that will not result in "leftover" waste? Is there a non-hazardous material you could use instead? Are you able to replace a "single-use" item with a reusable item?

Source Reduction: As you do your work, keep in mind that if you do not produce waste in the first place, you won't have to dispose of it. Also, if you use less-you will have less to dispose of. Can you think of something you could use less of in your work? Can you identify a way to reduce the amount of waste you produce in your work area? Is there a specific work routine you could change to avoid making waste? Can you purchase less of an item?

Hazard Segregation: Waste segregation is keeping different kinds of waste separated. Locate the containers identified for radioactive and non-radioactive wastes. Always be careful to place waste in the proper container!

Good Housekeeping: Keeping your work area neat, organized and well defined helps you reduce waste by 1) lowering the possibility that extra items will be used, 2) knowing that items are not disposed of by accident or not correctly, and 3) being sure that items don't accidentally become mixed waste. Are things correctly labeled?

Another way to minimize waste is to recycle. The Laboratory recycles paper products, office supplies (such as printer cartridges), aluminum and some metals, plastics, glassware, research chemicals and certain construction materials.

Use the DISPOSAL option only when other options are not technically or economically feasible or safe.

IMPORTANT!

NO chemical should be put down any drain and all outdated chemicals must be disposed of as hazardous waste!