The latest Green Labs Update Session on 17 March wasted no time in providing a thorough overview of laboratory waste management practices and procedures at UQ.
Three guest speakers—Shai Stadtmiller, Business Development Coordinator at Suez; Alex Homewood, Executive Officer at Ace Waste; and Leigh Burgess, Manager of Cleaning Services at UQ’s Property & Facilities Division—discussed clinical and recyclable waste collection and disposal before taking part in an informative Q&A session.
Mr Stadtmiller identified the benefits of a waste minimisation program, which include improved waste management practice, reduced environmental impact, less waste sent to landfill, promoting sustainable processes and resource recovery of valuable products. He also identified the types of waste intended for clinical waste and cytotoxic waste bins.
Mr Homewood from Ace Waste spoke about the clinical waste incineration process at the company’s Willawong facility. The Brisbane incineration plant has a capacity of 10,500 tonnes per annum and provides the highest standard of safety and environmental performance.
Ms Burgess ran through UQ’s current clinical waste procedures, including the amount of clinical waste produced, where it’s generated and the cost of disposing it. She also identified what UQ classifies as clinical and related waste, including perceived clinical waste.
The subsequent Q&A session touched on potential opportunities for efficiency improvements associated with disposing of perceived clinical waste and autoclaving clinical waste before disposal.
We would like to thank all Green Lab Reps who attended the session and participated in the discussion.
