Waste reduction

In Cohen we are trying to minimise our impact on the environment. As such we are trying to reduce waste in any way we can.

Plastic bottle reuse

In order to reduce Cohen’s plastic waste all Nalgene bottles of volume >60ml should be cleaned and reused where possible. Plastics vessels with 60ml or less are currently disposed of through the orange bag waste route.

The cleaning process requires training but should be a minimum of an overnight soak in 10% v/v acid (hydrochloric acid or nitric acid) then rinse, dry, and put away after every use. This is the same procedure as for glassware. Decon-90 can also be used as a pre-wash before rinsing and soaking.

Minimising use of chemicals

We try to maintain accurate records of what equipment and chemicals we have in the Cohen labs. This allows us to minimise the purchasing of new chemicals and equipment. However, we need you help! Please try to check the list before purchasing new chemicals or equipment.

List of chemicals

We try to keep a list of chemicals up to date to help you find chemicals and also so we can have the relevant Material, Safety DataSheets (MSDS) around for emergencies (kept in the store room – 9.134).

This is kept using LabCup - please see a technician for details.

If you buy any chemicals please email Fiona Keay the following information with the so she can update the list:

• The room they will be stored in.
• Chemical name.
• Grade.
• Concentration.
• Original volume/mass.
• Hazard(s) of chemical.?

List of equipment

We try to keep a track of what equipment we have so we do not end up buying equipment that may already be available elsewhere in the laboratories. Also, it is useful to keep track of equipment so it can be serviced when necessary. Lists of equipment in the laboratories can be found here:

N:\Earth&Environment\SEE\Technical\Equipment information\Inventories

Please also make sure all equipment is turned off when not in use.