New Delhi   

College initiative to manage lab waste

By Lakshmi B. Ghosh

NEW DELHI, JULY 17. The Capital's problem with chemical waste is clearly not limited to just its dumping grounds or the lack of them. Long ignored, science labs across the Capital's colleges have generated much waste over the years and, worse still, worked without a proper disposal system.

But finally taking note of the issue is Delhi University's Gargi College, which has tied up with Ahmedabad-based Centre for Environmental Education to implement Science Lab Waste Management in its college. The project, first of its kind, is aimed at minimising the amount of waste generated in the lab and finding a possible utilisation for the waste generated.

An initiative of Gargi College's Chemistry Department, as one of the first steps towards achieving the aim the college labs are now using transparent, recycled plastic containers for disposing lab waste with separate containers being installed for disposing biodegradable and non biodegradable waste.

While maintaining that the waste generated by Science labs is not necessarily toxic, Gargi College's S. Bhanumati - the main co-ordinator of the project from the college - points out that the Chemistry lab produces the maximum number of waste.

Apart from the fumes generated during experiments, Science labs produce waste in the form of glass, paper and chemicals. Most of the chemicals used is washed away, leading to contamination of ground water. Segregation and recycling of waste are just some of the things that the college hopes to achieve through the project. "A lot of waste is generated in the Chemistry, Biology and Microbiology labs. There has been no proper segregation of waste as far as science labs are concerned, but it is important to introduce it to reduce the danger element as students are exposed to so many chemicals, `' says Prof. Bhanumati, adding that ``unless we can segregate the waste, it would be difficult to know how much and what we can actually get into the recycling process.''

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