Rank: Forum user 
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Yes it is friday,but have been given an NHS,Waste Update sheet.
For Alcohol Gel Disposal:
"The Environment Agency have instructed that we can non longer place empty alcohol hand gel bottles in the domestic or clinical waste streams. Unfortunately the residue cannot be rinsed down the sink either on instruction from the National Water Authorities.
The HSE have advised that all empty bottles must be stored for collection in dedicated bins/storage units which protect from sources of ignition, so a metal bin with a self closing lid will be sufficient. This bin must be kept in an area that is inaccessible to the public and away from all sources of heat and ignition. A poster is attached to place on the bin".
Is this not OTT,inventing a problem,I do not work for the NHS and we do not have as many bottles washing around as in a hospital,but why cannot the simple residue <5ml not be washed down the outside sink with rain water of course and the remaining container if not recyclable ( used again) with lid off be squashed and disposed / recycled with other plastc waste?
Regards,Paul
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Rank: Forum user
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Hi,
Seems completely OTT to me but it will depend on the quantity, chemical hazard, frequency of discharge, monitoring and control of the effluent etc. I know patients/visitors add it to coffee, spoon off the floating scum to give a hot toddy not tried it myself. At a former chemical site the waste effluent drained into a catchment pit and I requested and was granted consent by the water board to discharge into the local drains providing we monitored the waste continuously and kept it within certain limits re. chemical concentration, pH etc but that was 10 years ago.
Regards
Steve
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Rank: Super forum user
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Is this actual advice from the Environment Agency about not putting the gel bottles in the Clinical waste stream or is it someone ( a cleverdick ) second guessing an outside body and making work for everybody else? Most clinical waste is burned in an industrial incinerator at temps of about 800 degrees C. They take anything from blood transfusion packs to bits of lab animals. Any alcohol in the bottles would not last long in there.
I would ask some questions. I smell b***s**t.
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Rank: Forum user 
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I agree that this is nonsense and typical of the misguided and bullish approach to regulation that flows from some individuals at teh environment Agency and in particular those tasked with issues relating to clinical waste disposal.
There is some good reason not to put them in clinical wastes. Most obviously, they are *not* clinical wastes however much or however little residue they may contain. They are plastic bottles and should ideally be recycled.
De mininimis concentrations polluting the atmosphere are surely of no significance. If they are, then ban also hand rub use since this puts 100% of the alcohol into the atmosphere!
EA are heavy handed with the clinical waste disposal sector. One of their latest things has been the release of VOCs from waste treatments and I have done quite a lot of work monitoring incoming clinical waste streams and treatment residues for VOCs - the only high level emissions were from discarded handrub bottles in the waste stream, and the area around the handrub dispenser used by the waste handlers! I asume EA are not planing to prohibit that use, though nothing would surprise me.
I would ignore it until you see it in black and white, with some sound technical evidence to support this and not just accepting their often ideological appropach to regulation. And if ever you get that far, make sure that it is regulation and/or a COP etc and not just a heavy handed opinion that has no regulatory substance.
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Rank: Forum user
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Thanks Ian,
Sensible advice,I wonder how pubs manage with their whisky / gin bottle washings!.I will now have to talk to the EAs waste management people.
Regards,Paul
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Rank: Forum user
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I would stay clear of the EA since they may offer advice that has little substance and they expect you to adhere to it regardless, as if it were mandatory.
Consider it as general waste and, without hiding anything, ask your general waste contractor to deal with it,
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Rank: Guest
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pdurkin wrote: Thanks Ian,
Sensible advice,I wonder how pubs manage with their whisky / gin bottle washings!.
It's a different type of alcohol most hand gels are Propan-2-Ol which is different to what comes in a bottle!
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Rank: Super forum user
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Paul
I think that actually you will find that many alcohol based sanitisers are ethanol based, possibly with a small addition of isopropanol.
Chris
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Rank: Super forum user 
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References and comparisons to the retail licensed trade are I think entirely valid. By the same token, such pedantry from the EA hinders the effective recycling of vessels and containers. The well established glass recycling industry surely copes with a much greater volume of (OK 'different') alcohol contamination?
I note some references to "general" waste here and would trust this does not preclude recycling -a principle the EA should also hold dear?
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