Overall Rating Silver - expired
Overall Score 48.87
Liaison Amy Parrish
Submission Date July 16, 2021

STARS v2.2

Boise State University
OP-20: Hazardous Waste Management

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 0.75 / 1.00 Kat Davis
Sustainability Coordinator
Campus Sustainability
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Part 1. Hazardous waste minimization and disposal

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:
When possible labs use non-hazardous materials in experimentation in place of hazardous materials. They also minimize the amount used as much as possible. When possible, corrosive materials are neutralized and drain disposed. Also, bottles are submitted when they are two-thirds full--and not just barely filled. This helps on costs which are related to bottle volume and efficiency for treatment of waste (done by the vendor). In the chemistry department we also have a solvent recycler. As often as is possible, solvents are recycled and reused on campus

A brief description of how the institution safely disposes of hazardous, universal, and non-regulated chemical waste:
When a waste is created, a pickup request is sent to the hazardous waste officer. It is then reviewed, coded, and picked up. An outside vendor is then paid to take the waste away and treat, dispose, and store (very rare) the waste.

A brief description of any significant hazardous material release incidents during the previous three years, including volume, impact and response/remediation:
No hazardous material release incidents 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:
Our UNH CEMS (University of New Hampshire’s Chemical and Environmental System) inventory system has a feature that allows myself, or other users, to put surplus chemicals into a shared file. This shared file can be seen by all users. They can then request this surplus inventory.

Part 2. Electronic waste diversion

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?:
No

If yes to either of the above, provide:

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:
Salvaged laptops and electronic university equipment are collected by our Facilities, Operations, and Maintenance department and sent to Pacific Steel Recycling in exchange for destroying all hard drives in their shredder.

Is the institution’s electronic waste recycler certified under the e-Stewards and/or Responsible Recycling (R2) standards?:
Yes

Optional Fields 

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:
Information from Chris Siepert, Hazardous Waste Officer, and Rusty Brummer, FOM

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.