Overall Rating Silver - expired
Overall Score 45.17
Liaison Nina Bisbee
Submission Date June 29, 2017
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.1

Bryn Mawr College
OP-21: Hazardous Waste Management

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 1.00 / 1.00 Donald Abramowitz
Environmental Health and Safety Officer
Environmental Health and Safety
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

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:

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.


A brief description of how the institution safely disposes of hazardous, universal, and non-regulated chemical waste:

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.


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

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


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

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.


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

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 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.


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

Electronic waste recycled or otherwise diverted from the landfill or incinerator during the most recent year for which data is available during the previous three years:
5.60 Tons

The website URL where information about the programs or initiatives is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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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.