Overall Rating Gold
Overall Score 68.91
Liaison Susan Powers
Submission Date April 10, 2024

STARS v2.2

Clarkson University
OP-20: Hazardous Waste Management

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 0.50 / 1.00 Erica Arnold
Environmental Health & Safety Manager / Radiation Safety Officer
Human Resources
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Does the institution have strategies in place to safely dispose of all hazardous, special (e.g. coal ash), universal, and non-regulated chemical waste and seek to minimize the presence of these materials on campus?:
Yes

A brief description of steps taken to reduce hazardous, special (e.g. coal ash), universal, and non-regulated chemical waste:

The University's Chemical Hygiene Plan includes details for inventory control and lab decommissioning that are intended to reduce the quantity of hazardous waste generations. Chemistry labs use green chemistry approaches (e.g., small volumes) to reduce waste generation as part of the education of our students. We neutralize acids and bases. We also use an electronic system called MSDSonline for inventory and materials compatibility control.


A brief description of how the institution safely disposes of hazardous, universal, and non-regulated chemical waste:

The university follows all federal and state regulations for dealing with hazardous and special wastes (sharps, broken glass, and non regulated materials such as used oil). A third-party regulated hauler is contracted to manage hazardous and universal waste. See pp. 44-51 of the University Chemical Hygiene plan for details.


A brief description of any significant hazardous material release incidents during the previous three years, including volume, impact and response/remediation:

No significant spills from 2021-2023. 


A brief description of any inventory system employed by the institution to facilitate the reuse or redistribution of laboratory chemicals:

An electronic system called MSDSonline (https://chemmanagement.ehs.com/9/ebinder) is used for the inventory management of chemicals on campus. This system allows Clarkson University faculty, staff and students to see what chemicals we have on campus already and where they are located before purchasing something new. It also allows internal users to see what chemicals are available for redistribution after a lab closes and no longer needs the chemicals in the space.


Does the institution have or participate in a program to responsibly recycle, reuse, and/or refurbish electronic waste generated by the institution?:
Yes

Does the institution have or participate in a program to responsibly recycle, reuse, and/or refurbish electronic waste generated by students?:
Yes

A brief description of the electronic waste recycling program(s), including information about how electronic waste generated by the institution and/or students is recycled:

Clarkson uses West Parishville Metals for electronic waste recycling and NLR, Inc. for recycling of batteries, bulbs and ballasts. Central collection areas for batteries, bulbs and ballasts are set up in each building on campus for the collection of such items and then custodians will bring any full containers to our central storage area in the Facilities building. When computers and cellphones are no longer needed by an individual on campus, they are cleaned of sensitive information by OIT and then reused in new locations on campus to the extent possible before final disposal for recycling.


Is the institution’s electronic waste recycler certified under the e-Stewards and/or Responsible Recycling (R2) standards?:
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Website URL where information about the institution’s hazardous waste program is available:
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Additional documentation to support the submission:
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:

Data provided in Fall 2022


The information presented here is self-reported. While AASHE staff review portions of all STARS reports and institutions are welcome to seek additional forms of review, the data in STARS reports are not verified by AASHE. If you believe any of this information is erroneous or inconsistent with credit criteria, please review the process for inquiring about the information reported by an institution or simply email your inquiry to stars@aashe.org.