Overall Rating Silver - expired
Overall Score 45.39
Liaison Holli Fajack
Submission Date July 6, 2017
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.1

California State University, Long Beach
OP-21: Hazardous Waste Management

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 1.00 / 1.00
"---" 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:
CSULB complies with California’s very strict hazardous waste rules and regulations. All universal waste, i.e. waste lamps, batteries, electronics, etc. is recycled. All chemical waste that is not regulated by the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is regulated as a California hazardous waste. For example, waste oil, which is not regulated by the EPA as a hazardous waste, is treated as a California hazardous waste and is therefore recycled. In addition, before a new chemical product is approved for purchase, a review of the product and its intended use is conducted to ensure that it is necessary for university-related work and that it cannot be substituted by an existing chemical product on campus.

A brief description of how the institution safely disposes of hazardous, universal, and non-regulated chemical waste:
All hazardous waste, including non-EPA chemical waste, such as waste oil, is picked up by a Hazardous Materials Technician from the various hazardous waste accumulation points and then transported to the main hazardous waste storage area on campus. A California-licensed and registered hazardous waste transportation and disposal company picks up all hazardous waste and transports it to a processing facility, where the hazardous waste is recycled or treated. All universal waste, such as waste lamps, batteries, and electronics are transported to a recycling facility and processed accordingly.

A brief description of any significant hazardous material release incidents during the previous three years, including volume, impact and response/remediation:
Nothing significant releases have occurred.

A brief description of any inventory system employed by the institution to facilitate the reuse or redistribution of laboratory chemicals:
Minimization through chemical sharing is encouraged. Before any employee orders a chemical, he/she should ask College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics (CNSM) Safety to search for it on the campus Hazardous Materials Inventory as it may be on-campus and available free of charge. All Faculty and Staff are required to participate in the campus-wide Hazardous Materials Inventory Program. This spreadsheet data is forwarded via CNSM Safety to the campus Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) Office. Individual chemical inventories must be examined periodically to identify surplus materials. Faculty and staff are expected to obtain chemicals in quantities that will be used within a reasonable period of time.

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:
California Code of Regulations, Title 22, Division 4.5, Sections 66273.3, & 66273.6 adopted by the California Department of Toxic Substances bans the disposal of any hazardous electronic waste, including batteries. In order to ensure the safe and proper disposal of electronic waste generated at CSULB, Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) works with the Property Management Office, Facilities Management Movers staff and Shipping and Receiving to inventory, transport, and dispose of university-owned equipment as follows: Step 1: Employee completes and submits a Property Survey form to the Property Management Office Step 2: Property Management reviews the item and removes it from the university database (Department disposing of item is responsible for wiping the hard drive) Step 3: Arrangements are made to transport the item to Shipping and Receiving Department for staging Step 4: Certified e-waste vendor picks up items from Shipping & Receiving Additionally, BeachTech, located on the second floor of the University Bookstore, offers a trade-in program for students, staff, and faculty to trade in their own personally-owned computers, laptops, and phones for cash, incentivizing sustainable methods for retired hardware.

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:
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The website URL where information about the programs or initiatives is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
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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.