Instrument disposal

[rnelson]

Does anyone know of a company or organization that will take old unusable laboratory instrumentation? I have an assortment of LC's, LC components, dissolution baths, GC/headspace and some other items that are no longer usable that I need to discard. My Health and Safety department needs all pc boards removed in order to send them to a landfill, and who has the time to do that? I would think there is someone out there that would take these items for parts. I would gladly give them away if someone was willing to pick them up. Any ideas?

[chromatographer1]

I would post your general location (NY, NJ, CA, TX, etc) and see if you receive any inquiries.

[rnelson]

Sorry I didn't include that to begin with. We're located in central VA.

[CE Instruments]

You could also photograph them and put them on e-bay. Would bring in some funds too

[rnelson]

I appreciate the suggestion, but I really don't want to spend that much time and effort on it. Complicating your suggestion is the fact we can't access Ebay through our firewall, it's a blocked site along with many others!

I was hoping there would be some instrument repair company that might be interested...

[tom jupille]

If by "unusable" you mean "working, but no longer useful for your needs", then I would contact local community college or college chemistry departments.

If by "unusable" you mean "broken", then check for "e-waste disposal", but be prepared to pay for it.

[rnelson]

Some of the instrumentation is operational, but due to receiving "trade-in" discounts, I can't donate them. The vendor told me their expectation of the "trade-in" was that the instrument not show up somewhere (college), they basically don't want to receive any service calls to fix it.

Other instruments could probably be used with some repairs.

It's really a mix of both, and some that truly are just trash, although what I'm calling trash, someone may be able to use for parts.

[chromatographer1]

It might be helpful to give a list of the instrumentation involved, yes?

[CE Instruments]

Some of the instrumentation is operational, but due to receiving "trade-in" discounts, I can't donate them. The vendor told me their expectation of the "trade-in" was that the instrument not show up somewhere (college), they basically don't want to receive any service calls to fix it.

If you keep to the agreement you should scrap them properly As they were subject to a trade-in why did the respective companys not collect their assets ?

I think you should write to the companys explaining you are disposing of them and ask if, as they are nominally the owners they would like to collect them. Give them a time , say 28 days to respond otherwise you will dispose of them in the most environmentally beneficial way. i.e. give them to a local college. Manufacturers do not want old kit donated as it stops them selling new, service calls create revenue, no one turns this down. Most likely fixing them at manufacturer rates would cost more than they are worth. Make sure when donating the receiver knows that neither the manufacturer nor your company accepts any liability with respect to the functioning or use of the equipment.

[Sallybeetle]

You might try www.overbrookscientific.com, www.iristechnologies.net, www.hplc4sale.co.uk, www.bestlabdeals.com, www.techlabservices.com/chromatography.htm. Or, do an internet search on, for example, "refurbished HPLC."

I am not endorsing any of these companies / websites. I just think it is a shame to send lab equipment to a landfill that might benefit someone.

Are you sure universities or small colleges wouldn't be interested in the equipment? If they can't use the equipment, maybe they would know someone who would spend the time to sell the stuff on e-bay to donate the money to that college.

Would it be ok with this website for you to reply with your general location, i.e. state?

[Consumer Products Guy]

Agilent's program requires promise not to donate or sell the old equipment, but can still use the modules or use for parts. Our QC labs have updated their instruments, and sent the older modules to us at R&D, where we made use of them.

[MIB_EO]

If you know of, or can find with a bit of web searching, a third party service company they may well want your old instruments for parts.

Third party companies often have to service ancient equipment, and getting hold of old parts can be problematical, particularly if the original manufacturer no longer supports that product.

Donating working instruments to college would be best though.

Just a thought.