I am not sure what size bottles you are looking for. We recently purchased a number of 5 gallon plastic bottles for waste accumulation in our chemistry department (https://www.fishersci.com/shop/products/nalgene-fluorinated-hdpe-jerricans-closure/0296013). I like them because they are square bottom, durable, have a nice big handle, and are translucent so users can tell how full they are. The fluorinated HDPE is resistant to practically everything. The one downside is that the fill spout is slightly tilted, but I have had no complaints from my generators. They were a bit pricey, but I only use them for waste to be bulked, so they should last forever.

I find the lids on wide mouth carboys are often hard to get on and off, particularly for those with small hands. If they get cross threaded they will leak. They are also incompatible with an Eco Funnel.

I love Eco Funnel systems.  They are EPA compliant and the strainer catches magnets  We collect in these and transfer to others to discard.  They are not cheap, but are definitely worth it.  However, that being said, safety coated bottles are not cheap either.  Usually, you can find the product you want at the link below and order it through VWR (may have to have your rep quote a price) and it will be cheaper than Lab Safety.  Lab Safety has been very good about sending us replacement parts for the clasps, which will fail eventually.

http://www.calpaclab.com/eco-funnels/

As for narrow mouth containers, I do not see any advantage to those.  I prefer wide mouth, safety coated bottles.  All of our bottles are recycled 2.5 or 4 L solvent or acid bottles.  Anything that comes through the stockroom empty has all manufacturers labels removed, is rinsed with an appropriate solvent (added to waste), and thoroughly washed and allowed to air dry (no lid in storage).  I only use plastic bottles for nitric acid waste - a lesson learned.

S-

I'm getting ready to order some waste accumulation bottles for our laboratories and wonder if there is a practical reason to have narrow mouth bottles rather than wide mouth bottles. It seems like the wide mouth bottles would eliminate the need for a funnel during the filling process and lead to less exterior contamination of the waste bottle. However, standard practice appears to be narrow mouth bottles and I wonder if this is due to a specific practical reason or inertia?

Thanks for any thoughts on this.

- Ralph

Ralph Stuart, CIH, CCHO

Chemical Hygiene Officer

Keene State College

ralph.stuart**At_Symbol_Here**keene.edu