Disposing of film processing waste

Rob MacKillop

Edinburgh Correspondent
I wrote to my local council asking about disposing of the chemicals used for developing film. Here's the reply:

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The normal advice we’d give for household chemical disposal is to put each different chemical in a clearly labelled plastic bottle, securely seal and hand it to a member of staff at a household waste recycling centre.


However those sites are currently shut as a result of the coronavirus situation, so if you can:


  • Wait until the sites reopen if possible
  • If not you can place a maximum of one plastic bottle in the grey household waste bin at a time.

Our household waste is sent for energy recovery at Milllerhill (i.e. it is burned to generate power for the national grid). While I know that some chemicals used in photography are relatively benign, such as acetic acid, I think this would be a safer way to dispose of others than pouring them down the drain, assuming you only have small amounts. This is perhaps a better way to dilute them than via the water courses.
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