Two posts in one day!

My client collects old-fashioned mercury containing thermometers and sphygmomanometer from various customers for disposal.

Rarely (less than once a year) one of these mercury containing units may be cracked/broken and mercury contents leaking. This is appropriately captured by Vermiculite spill materials by trained engineers.

We have no issue with the contained mercury containing units being collected by our hazardous waste handler for recycling, but they have today reported that no waste handlers are currently collecting mercury / isocyanate contaminted spill materials for incineration. 

They have suggested we install a pallet with a waste drum to collect this rare waste stream, taking up valuable warehouse space and storing hazardous waste for multiple years (may take 20+years to fill) with no planned solution to deal with the waste.

To me this proposed solution does not seem suitable or suffient in dealing with the issue.

Maybe it's too close to Christmas and my brain has switched off? 

Any suggestions welcome!

Thanks

Originally Posted by: firesafety101

Hello again, according to current EU Waste legislation you would need a Permit to store hazardous waste and mercury can only be stored for 5 years then it has to be converted to Mercury Sulphide and then disposed.

You will need Vapour Detection equipment.

Sorry for the bad news.

No need to apologise! 

This is helpful, I knew storing it for indefinite years in a drum was not the appropriate solution! 

I already requested a better solution from the current waste carrier. 

I've absorbed Regulation (EU) 2017/852; and 2012/18/EU of the European Parliament Regulations and we don't come anywhere near the thresholds of being even a lower-tier site in regard to our mercury. I can't find anything on requirements for vapour detectors, nor time limits for storage, can you signpost me please?

We only have a maximum of twenty mercury containing sphygmomanometers or thermometers stored before it's collected by our waste carrier, so that's millilitres rather than tonnes: no possibility of a major incident. I've already tightened up the traceability aspect of control by implementing a storage and disposal log. (Article 14 of EU2017/852)

If there is a risk then we will control it, but I don't think there is enough quantity of the hazardous substance to pose a risk requiring vapour detection?

Still struggling with dealing with the mercury waste (from rare spill clean ups) if our waste handler wont dispose of it. 

Thanks

Hi Self and Hasty

This is one for a waste management specialist, but my suspiciou is that mercury absorbed into vermiculite could be released again if the environment in which the vermiculite warms up.

So.....I think you probably need to look at a process to recover the mercury (and possibly recycle it) or to apply a chemical treatment to render it inherently safer, e.g. by conversion to mercury sulphide as firesafety suggests.

Thence you would eliminate the issue of waste management contractors not wanting to touch it - if anything putting it in an incinerator would just spread the problem further!

Reported #7 for hidden hyperlink within quoted text. I find it hard to believe they actually get anyone with those.