You may have noticed occasional shortages of biohazardous waste tubs and lids, as well as the appearance of gray tubs alongside the regular red tubs.
There have been several unfortunate circumstances with our supply of tubs. EHS has been told the shortages are due to problems with staffing and supply chain as many are facing in other industries. Driver shortages have also resulted in periodic missed pickups and deliveries. The tubs used on campus are not University of Iowa owned tubs, the vendor services many businesses in the region and we all share supplies. The number of tubs delivered has been affected by this. Our vendor has been delivering as many as possible and trying to make up for the shortfall by supplying gray tubs. Besides being a different color, the gray tubs also close with an interlocking bi-fold cover rather than a separate lid. Both tubs are acceptable for use when disposing of biohazardous waste.
If you find any tubs without matching lids at supply locations, please set them aside. EHS will ask the vendor to either remove empty tubs without lids or supply extra lids when available.
Instructions for closing either gray or red biohazardous waste tubs may be found among the resources on the EHS website.