Bryn Mawr College
OP-21: Hazardous Waste Management

Universal wastes have been reduced in part through the replacement of fluorescent lighting fixtures with LED lighting. This has reduced our need to dispose of fluorescent lamps and ballasts. Hazardous waste has been reduced through the substitution of low VOC, water based finishes for flooring, paints, and other finish applications for conventional materials. Hazardous waste generated from laboratories has been further reduced through adoption of microscale practices in teaching labs, and the use of non- or reduced-hazard systems in molecular biology to replace those using ethidium bromide. Less aggressive glassware cleaning methods have been embraced where feasible to reduce or eliminate the use of chromic acid, aqua regia, and piranha solution.

Faculty, staff and students are trained in our requirements for hazardous and universal waste management. The program is managed by our Environmental Health and Safety Office. Wastes are collected in designated satellite accumulation areas, transported to central accumulation area by EH&S staff, then packaged and shipped to licensed and permitted disposal, energy recovery, or recycling facilities by an EPA permitted contractor. Records of all hazardous, non-hazardous chemical, universal, radioactive, and biomedical disposal activities are maintained indefinitely.

We have had no hazardous material release incidents during the past three years.

The College uses the Quartzy system to maintain an online inventory of all laboratory chemicals. We currently track more than 10,000 containers, each with its own barcode. Environmental Health and Safety provides access to the inventory to all faculty, and during annual training, encourages laboratory personnel to consult the inventory to see what we already have before purchasing additional materials. In addition, whenever a clean-out of a laboratory is requested, the sorted materials that are deemed suitable for re-use or redistribution are placed on display and advertised, so that lab personnel can "shop" the collection and take what they need. The locations of such items are then updated in the inventory.

Electronic waste is collected in a central location by our Library and Information Technology Services department. Materials collected here, which include computers, monitors, televisions, printers, scientific instruments, household electronics and related devices are packaged and removed periodically by a contracted electronic waste recycler. The collection site is actively used by computing staff for all college issued electronic equipment and made available to students and staff for their personally owned electronics, upon submission of a form. Environmental Health and Safety arranges for staff bringing electronics from home to bring their items to a collection site or to have their items picked-up from their personal vehicles by appointment.