| Overall Rating | Gold - expired |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 72.66 |
| Liaison | Megan Litke |
| Submission Date | March 5, 2021 |
American University
OP-20: Hazardous Waste Management
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
1.00 / 1.00 |
Courtney
Stoner Sustainability Analyst Office of Sustainability |
"---"
indicates that no data was submitted for this field
Part 1. Hazardous waste minimization and disposal
Yes
A brief description of steps taken to reduce hazardous, special (e.g. coal ash), universal, and non-regulated chemical waste:
All hazardous, universal, radioactive, biowaste, and other chemical wastes are tracked and overseen by the Risk Management and Environmental Health and Safety department.
Hazardous waste is reduced in labs through the use of a chemical inventory system which labels and codes all incoming chemicals assuring that excess chemicals are not purchased, additional chemicals are not brought to campus unnecessarily, and that chemicals are not disposed of when they could be used elsewhere.
Universal waste is reduced by the facilities staff by finding new, less toxic replacements for traditional products such as green tipped fluorescent bulbs.
Hazardous waste is reduced in labs through the use of a chemical inventory system which labels and codes all incoming chemicals assuring that excess chemicals are not purchased, additional chemicals are not brought to campus unnecessarily, and that chemicals are not disposed of when they could be used elsewhere.
Universal waste is reduced by the facilities staff by finding new, less toxic replacements for traditional products such as green tipped fluorescent bulbs.
A brief description of how the institution safely disposes of hazardous, universal, and non-regulated chemical waste:
Hazardous waste is managed in accordance with U. S. EPA Hazardous Waste Regulations (40 CFR, Parts 260 through 272) and District of Columbia Hazardous Waste Regulations. All known generators of hazardous waste at American University undergo hazardous waste recognition and disposal training and are required to follow American University’s hazardous waste management procedures, which are discussed at http://www.american.edu/finance/environmental-health/hazwaste.cfm
A brief description of any significant hazardous material release incidents during the previous three years, including volume, impact and response/remediation:
There have been no significant hazardous material releases in the past three years.
A brief description of any inventory system employed by the institution to facilitate the reuse or redistribution of laboratory chemicals:
The university maintains an internal chemical inventory system, which tracks incoming and outgoing chemical containers. This program helps to reduce excess chemical ordering and encourages sharing among researchers. This program is part of university policy, which can be found at: https://www.american.edu/policies/safety-risk-management/upload/inventory-requirements-for-chemicals-used-in-teaching-and-research-web-version.pdf
Part 2. Electronic waste diversion
Yes
Does the institution have or participate in a program to responsibly recycle, reuse, and/or refurbish electronic waste generated by students?:
Yes
If yes to either of the above, provide:
All computers and electronics owned by the university are first assessed to see if they can be reused or refurbished for use on campus. If they cannot be reused they are sent to a secure storage location on campus to await pickup. Other electronics on campus from faculty and staff is collected upon request and brought to the secure storage location. We have multiple events per year where student electronics are collected and brought to storage. Once the storage unit is full our E-Waste vendor, who is R2 certified, collects the material for recycling.
Is the institution’s electronic waste recycler certified under the e-Stewards and/or Responsible Recycling (R2) standards?:
Yes
Optional Fields
Additional documentation to support the submission:
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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