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Metro Area Hospitals Recycle Reagents

Information provided by Allina Medical Laboratories

In mid-2004, Allina Medical Laboratories implemented a solvent recycling process at several large Metro Area hospitals - Abbott Northwestern, Unity, Mercy, and United Hospitals. These hospitals use significant volumes of alcohols, xylene, and formalin every day in laboratory operations. With the ever-tightening regulatory agency mandates, the rising costs of handling hazardous chemicals, and the tight budget constraints of healthcare facilities, recycling just made sense.

Two recycling units (B&R Instruments) were installed at each site. One unit recycles formalin and the other, which uses a spinning band fractional distillation column technique, recycles both alcohol and xylene solvents. Installation of the units posed minimal remodeling or technical concerns, and operation requires minimal staff training and operational time. The units have pre-programmed systems installed and are fully automatic. It takes only 10 minutes to load and start the program. The microprocessor controller watches over the unit, constantly checking all safety parameters and automatically stopping it at the end of the program. The recycled solvents are as pure as the new solvent with an 80 percent recovery of alcohols and formalin and a 95 percent recovery of xylenes. Small amounts of residue left from the process are collected and handled as hazardous waste, a fraction of the volume prior to recycling.

Allina Medical Laboratories has been highly successful utilizing this recycling technology. In the first six weeks of operations, Abbott Northwestern Hospital Laboratory alone recovered more then $6,000 worth of reagents. With the units averaging around $16,000 each for a five-gallon capacity, these units will pay for themselves in short order.