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Step 9Disposing of the etchant solution
First thing - don't bother! You can keep the etchant for the next plate you do (it will gradually take longer to etch the plate as the solution becomes weaker though).
Second thing - when you do need to dispose of the etchant, do so responsibly. Don't just put it down the drain! The ferric chloride is corrosive to lots of metals, but more importantly, it now contains dissolved copper which is rather harmful to wildlife. What you need to do is neutralise the solution with an alkali (something like washing soda) which will precipitate out the copper as a solid. Then, you can dilute the liquid with lots of water and put that down the drain, as long as you filter/decant off the solid copper and dispose of that safely - your council will advise you how best to do this.
Second thing - when you do need to dispose of the etchant, do so responsibly. Don't just put it down the drain! The ferric chloride is corrosive to lots of metals, but more importantly, it now contains dissolved copper which is rather harmful to wildlife. What you need to do is neutralise the solution with an alkali (something like washing soda) which will precipitate out the copper as a solid. Then, you can dilute the liquid with lots of water and put that down the drain, as long as you filter/decant off the solid copper and dispose of that safely - your council will advise you how best to do this.
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Thomas