New service to identify unknown chemicals
26 July 2024 by CSG
A waste management specialist has introduced a new ground-breaking service to identify unlabelled chemicals, allowing for safe disposal.
CSG has become the first waste management company in the UK to invest in a handheld Raman spectrometer, helping businesses and organisations which produce chemical wastes to operate safely and meet their legal obligations.
Previously the only way to identify the contents of an unlabelled chemical container was to open it for sampling and analysis. CSG has invested in a Raman spectrometer which enables accurate, through-barrier identification of hazardous chemicals at customers’ sites, without the need for containers to be opened.
CSG or one of its trusted partners can then arrange to dispose of the chemicals compliantly and safely.
Dr Stuart Atkinson, who leads the Lab Chemical Waste Collection Team at CSG, said: “We are proud to be leading the industry in providing a solution to our customers for this common problem by making the unknown, known.
“It’s inevitable that companies that produce hazardous waste end up with containers without proper labels, which can happen for many reasons including the label simply falling off.”
The Raman spectrometer can provide rapid results on liquids or solids through sealed, clear and coloured glass and plastic opaque containers, or by analysing the chemical directly in an open container, identifying the chemical from an inbuilt database.
The device works by scattering light from a high-intensity laser light source, producing different wavelengths or colours to determine the chemical.
Raman spectroscopy has been successfully utilised in hazmat response, law enforcement and parcel screening at border control and can be used to identify very hazardous materials, such as explosives and narcotics.
The only limitations on the Raman spectrometer are chemicals which are in sealed containers through which the laser beam cannot penetrate, such as metal tins.
Dr Stuart added: “We were recently able to use the Raman spectrometer at a university where we found 244 small containers of unknown chemicals. We completed the job in just three days, correctly identifying the unknown substances for disposal with very high levels of accuracy.
“We believe there are many containers of unknown chemicals across the country and we are expecting huge demand for this new service.”
Visit https://www.csg.co.uk/hazardous-waste-quote for a quote, or call 0800 011 6600.
