We use a CBG recycler to recover Xylene. You just load the contaminated
xylene(ours contains paraffin and alcohol) to be recycled start the machine
and walk away. The CBG machine has a pump to make liquid handling very easy
(Being very cautious about backcare), and an automatic valve to release the
paraffin waste into a collection container at the end of the cycle. The
quality of the recovered reagent is excellent, with a 90-95% recovery rate.
We recover xylene from alcohol by "washing" the contaminated alcohol with
water. The alcohol separates into the aqueous layer and the xylene floats on
top. Simply decant off the xylene and run it through the recycler.

Liam Brennan
Histopathology Dept
Belfast City Hospital

-----Original Message-----
From: Laurie Colbert [mailto:laurie.colbert@huntingtonhospital.com]
Sent: 12 November 2002 20:07
To: histonet@pathology.swmed.edu
Subject: Reagent Recycling


We are looking into a recycler for alcohol, xylene, and formalin.  How do
current users of recyclers feel about their unit?  Is the quality really as
good as new reagent?  I understand you can't recycle alcohol contaminated
with xylene.  Are you able to recycle xylene contaminated with paraffin?
Does the recycling process really require little tech time or do you find it
more time-consuming than you would want it to be?  Thanks for your feedback.

Laurie Colbert