Chemical ReUse Program
RPI is committed to reducing chemical waste and promoting responsible resource management across campus. To advance these goals, Environmental Health & Safety (EHS) is launching a Chemical ReUse Program, a new initiative that helps laboratories share surplus chemicals and reduce disposal needs.
RPI uses and stores thousands of different chemicals - often in small quantities – across hundreds of labs, shops and research spaces An up-to-date chemical inventory helps minimize waste by preventing duplicate purchases and encouraging the exchange of chemicals between laboratories. If this is not possible, lab personnel can take advantage of the Chemical ReUse Program.
The Chemical ReUse Program supports RPI’s waste reduction goals by enabling surplus chemicals and materials to be used in other campus labs rather than being sent out for disposal. The program is completely free to the entire RPI community.
Surplus chemicals enter the ReUse Program in numerous ways, including:
- Faculty relocating to other universities
- Researcher retirements
- Labs no longer need certain chemicals for their research
- Researchers moving labs
When chemicals are no longer needed, departments should first identify what can be reused in their department. Remaining materials may then be considered for the Reuse Program or sent for disposal.
While many chemical items may have deteriorated over time and require disposal, many chemicals remain viable and may still be factory sealed. Use the Chemical ReUse Decision Tree to determine if the chemical can be accepted by the ReUse Program or should be sent for disposal.
EHS catalogs and indexes these surplus items and makes the chemicals available for our campus community.
The program is operated by EHS through our Chemical Receiving location in Cogswell 221.
For more information, please visit ehs.rpi.edu or contact us at ehs@rpi.edu.
