Disposal of old HPLC columns

[DR Alia Anwar]

We have gathered many HPLC columns that have gone bad. Can anyone suggest as to how to dispose them or whether there is anyone who re-cycles?

[mattmullaney]

Dr. Anwar,

At one of my old jobs, we would remove the column endfittings and frits, flush out the stationary phase and rinse the column with hexanes, remove labels (if present) from the column and send the steel parts to a scrap steel company. This was in the eastern US--I don't know where you're at, but I'd think that you could follow a similar course.

Good Luck!

[Gerhard Kratz]

Excellent advice. The packing material is Special waste and should be taken to a Special disposal Center. Normally the column Hardware is stainless steel V4A and very expensive. Or you ask your column supplier to take the used columns back.