| Overall Rating | Silver - expired |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 60.97 |
| Liaison | Natalie Hayes |
| Submission Date | Aug. 6, 2020 |
Bentley University
OP-20: Hazardous Waste Management
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
0.50 / 1.00 |
Natalie
Hayes Associate Director of Sustainability Office of Sustainability |
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?:
A brief description of steps taken to reduce hazardous, special (e.g. coal ash), universal, and non-regulated chemical waste:
Bentley is a registered "small quantity generator" with the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection. A very small amount of hazardous waste is generated on our campus. Bentley’s Environmental, Health and Safety specialist has worked with Facilities Management to complete a thorough clean-out of the mechanical/electrical/custodial/attic spaces to ensure that all hazardous materials are accounted for and disposed of properly. The university's EHS specials conducts monthly audits of all of these spaces to ensure that "surprise" materials to not pop up.
Bentley's custodial and trades employees are educated about hazardous waste safety and regulations. Bentley chooses to not pursue certain operational activities that would require the use of additional hazardous wastes.
Bentley's EHS special keeps Material Safety Data Sheets on all of our chemicals on-site (40 years). Online inventory of MSDS info for relevant departments can be found here: https://www.bentley.edu/offices/facilities-management/msds-links
A brief description of how the institution safely disposes of hazardous, universal, and non-regulated chemical waste:
Per Bentley's "small quantity generator" status, the university does not generate much hazardous waste. Hazardous wastes that are generated are safely stored and removed from the property per Massachusetts regulations.
Bentley utilizes Clean Harbors Chemical & Environmental Services to remove and properly dispose of all hazardous wastes and tracks and maintains waste transportation and disposal manifests per regulations.
Bentley's Pollution Prevention Plan, governs the minimization of hazardous waste materials on campus.
Bentley uses North Coast Services to pick up universal waste including; light bulbs, batteries, ballasts, electronic scraps and small electronics.
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 incident releases in the past 3 years.
A brief description of any inventory system employed by the institution to facilitate the reuse or redistribution of laboratory chemicals:
Bentley's Natural and Applied Sciences Department works closely with the university's EHS specialist to ensure proper handling of chemicals in science labs. The university has a very small laboratory foot print (3500SF of lab space). Chemical-based research is done in a communal laboratory space, so resources are shared freely.
Does the institution have or participate in a program to responsibly recycle, reuse, and/or refurbish electronic waste generated by the institution?:
Does the institution have or participate in a program to responsibly recycle, reuse, and/or refurbish electronic waste generated by students?:
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:
In 2010, Bentley’s Eco-Reps implemented an electronics recycling program for the Bentley campus. The electronics recycling program allows students, faculty and staff to recycle a large variety of electronics, without having to pay for the shipping cost of doing so. Electronics collected on campus are packaged in special tubs and boxes and are shipped to their facility for proper recycling. There are two Electronics Recycling Bins on Bentley's campus.
Facilities Management has contracted with North Coast Services to collect electronic waste generated by the university's operations.
Faculty and staff are able to recycle Bentley-owned electronics such as refrigerators and microwaves, from department operations through monthly Tag & Snag pick up days. The entire campus community has access to drop off locations for smaller items such as batteries, cell phones, handheld electronics and ink-jet cartridges.
Client Services (IT) maintains contract with various vendors to ensure that laptops, printers and other networked electronics are refurbished and redistributed or recycled by the manufacturer after its useful life on campus.
Is the institution’s electronic waste recycler certified under the e-Stewards and/or Responsible Recycling (R2) standards?:
Website URL where information about the institution’s hazardous waste program is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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.