Waste Amalgam waste requires special attention because it contains mercury and silver. Since amalgam waste typically designates as a hazardous waste, the best options are to reclaim the metals in amalgam or bury the amalgam in a hazardous waste landfill. Once mercury has been reclaimed or handled as a hazardous waste, it no longer poses a liability to you as the generator.
Biomedical waste is often heat-treated, and heating amalgam releases mercury into the air.
Biomedical waste transport companies currently do not accept hazardous metal-bearing wastes. The following reclamation facilities and refiners accept dental amalgam but have no special programs for dental wastes. Be sure the wastes are either reclaimed or sent to a hazardous waste landfill. By visiting this and other King County web pages, you expressly agree to be bound by terms and conditions of the site.