Brigham Young University
OP-20: Hazardous Waste Management

Hazardous and special regulated items are reduced on campus where possible, lowering the amount of waste generated by BYU. As professors submit chemicals that are no longer needed but are still usable, other professors are contacted to see if they have a need or use for them. For example, when two large bottles of mercury were submitted as “unwanted waste,” another professor found a use for them in his lab. 

Non-regulated chemicals are picked up for disposal as well. These items generally include products found in homes, such as cleaning products, shampoos and soaps, paints, etc. BYU has contacted various shelters and other non-profit organizations to see if these non-regulated items may be donated. The items must remain in their original, unopened packaging to be donated.

Risk Management provides containers for biohazardous waste, flam, acid, base chemicals, lights, and solid waste. Campus labs and facilities consolidate waste in these containers and submit online requests to Risk Management for collection when needed. Student technicians then pick up the waste, perform characterization analysis, consolidate it, and prepare it for shipping by licensed vendors at regularly scheduled times. Risk Management tracks the containers through Container Management, a software solution, to comply with storage time regulations.

There have only been minor spills––less than 2 liters––within the past three years on campus. Those spills have been contained and have not been released into the environment. The spilled material was cleaned up using proper procedures and protocols. Then the cleaned-up spilled materials and equipment used in the cleanup process were properly disposed of through BYUs licensed vendor.

A professional in BYU's chemistry department oversees the chemical inventory process and all purchases of chemicals for campus. If two or multiple professors are ordering the same chemicals, the professional works with those professors to ensure that BYU is not ordering too much, resulting in unwanted excess materials that must be properly disposed of. Careful oversight of BYU's inventory system of all chemicals ensures that supplies are purchased only as needed and redistributed whenever possible.

BYU IT Surplus receives most of the electronic waste produced by the institution and students. What isn't resold at public auction, resold online, or used elsewhere on campus is consolidated and taken to a local computer recycler, TAMS, which is R2 certified and committed to environmental responsibility and compliance. Ballasts and batteries are recycled through Risk Management’s approved vendors.