Overall Rating Silver - expired
Overall Score 60.39
Liaison Christina Olsen
Submission Date March 30, 2021

STARS v2.2

British Columbia Institute of Technology
OP-20: Hazardous Waste Management

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 1.00 / 1.00
"---" 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:
BCIT does not bring in hazardous materials other than what is explicitly requested by the various schools at the Institute. This keeps our in-take of hazardous material very low.

A brief description of how the institution safely disposes of hazardous, universal, and non-regulated chemical waste:
For the disposal of hazardous waste, BCIT contracts Sybertech Waste Reduction Ltd (SWRL), a biohazardous and industrial waste treatment and disposal company.

The company picks up waste roughly every quarter, and disposes of it in the proper channels. BCIT is provided with government certified certificates showcasing the proper disposal of the hazardous items.

https://www.swrl.com/sybertech_waste_reduction_hazardous_waste.html

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

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

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?:
Yes

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:
Electronic equipment at BCIT is typically used right to the very end of life. In addition to electronic waste that is generated by the Institution, staff, students and faculty are encouraged to bring their old equipment from home to be recycled.

The first step is to determine if items can be sold through British Columbia auctions to recover any costs. All proceeds go back to BCIT funds. If items cannot be sold and did not sell, recycling options are looked at.

Electronic waste for recycling is taken to eCycle Solutions and the Encorp Pacific Richmond Return-It Centre.

https://www.ecyclesolutions.com/en/
https://www.return-it.ca/electronics/

Examples of electronic waste recycled from the institution: Wires, Motherboards, Various tech equipment, Computers, Drivers, and more.

https://commons.bcit.ca/news/2019/05/rethinking-e-waste-how-bcit-diverted-6-5-tonnes-of-electronic-waste-from-the-landfill-in-just-one-summer/

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:
https://www.bcit.ca/supply/shipping/hazardous-waste-recyclables/

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.