The principles of reduce, reuse, and recycle, known as the 'three Rs', can indeed be applied to clinical labs. Clinical labs generate many types of waste, including biohazardous, chemical, and regular waste. Among the regular types of waste are plastics, glass, and paper. Each of these types of waste needs to be treated differently and so each merits its own discussion. However, the one principle that can be applied to all types is to reduce.
It stands to reason that if the material is not used, then it won't have to be disposed of... the following pages will discuss each type of waste - how it can potentially be reduced, and if not, how it might be reused or recycled. Substituting one material for another so that it could potentially be reused or recycled will also be discussed.
There will be some overlap with some of the suggestions given in the purchasing section of the course since disposing of the item(s) should always guide any purchasing choices.
