Plans to replace Winchester bottles with Fluorinated Jerrycans across the University will reduce the number of chemical spills.

 

 

Currently, much of the chemical waste generated by labs at Queen Mary are transferred to the waste store in the containers which they are supplied in; brown 2.5 litre brown glass bottles commonly known as Winchesters. Whilst this makes sense from a practical point of view, there are regrettably some safety issues that arise from time to time; namely that they can shatter when dropped.  

In some instances where an incompatible chemical has been mistakenly introduced into the waste stream, a slow reaction takes place inside the bottle generating internal pressure.

 

Whilst we make every effort to work with lab users to identify why this has happened and provide information about how to stream waste correctly, in order the reduce the risk even further, we are now trying to minimise the use of Winchesters for waste.  

 

To this end, the Health and Safety Directorate have identified suitable replacement containers; fluorinated HDPE 10 and 5 litre jerrycans. These containers are chemically resistant, easy to handle and significantly less likely to burst when dropped or subjected to internal pressure. An added advantage is that the jerrycans are UN approved for the storage and transfer of chemicals, meaning our waste contractor may remove them from site as is, rather than having to repackage them.

 

Once the waste is transferred to a storage yard it will be decanted into bulk containers prior to further processing. Both the Winchesters the chemicals were purchased in and the Fluorinated Jerrycans will then be recycled.  

 

The containers will be provided to lab users free of charge and the intention is to roll them out over the next academic year.