In general, a lab pack is a large, sturdy container used to ship smaller containers of waste. When lab packing, several smaller intact containers get placed into a large drum that can typically hold up to about 55 gallons of waste. The smaller containers within the lab pack are carefully sorted and padded with an inert material that allows for the safe transport and disposal of the waste chemicals.
Lab packs are typically used by laboratories or other industries that tend to produce chemical waste as a convenient and cost-effective option for shipping hazardous chemicals off-site. The large lab pack container gets filled with various smaller-quantity containers of materials or chemicals that are similar to each other, such as acids, flammables and oxidizers. The container is then marked with its assigned shipping name for easy sorting.
After receiving a lab pack, a hazardous waste management company will further consolidate the chemicals and substances and prepare them for the best possible course of disposal. Depending on the circumstances, the lab pack wastes could be incinerated, recycled, put in a landfill, specially treated, neutralized or stabilized. They could also undergo fuels blending. In this way, lab packs also allow hazardous waste management companies to dispose of like materials more efficiently.
When done properly, lab packing can give organization leaders peace of mind that their expired chemicals and hazardous materials have been marked, packed and disposed of with care. Removing unused or expired chemicals from the inventory can also protect employees from potential hazards and clean out unwanted materials.