Colorado Mountain College
OP-20: Hazardous Waste Management

CMC campuses have contracted hazardous waste disposal companies that periodically pick up and properly dispose of any hazardous wastes. These contractors generally come on an as-needed basis, as our campuses do not produce the quantity of hazardous waste that warrants a regularly scheduled pickup. Campus labs have neutralization traps in the drain system of the lab sinks that allow for the safe disposal of certain chemicals in limited quantities down the drain. These neutralization traps use limestone chips or other medium appropriate for neutralizing acidic liquids. At least one county household hazardous waste disposal site allowed our campuses to utilize their facility for limited disposal of hazardous waste, universal waste, and other chemicals, due to the very limited amount of waste material the campus generates.

Science lab faculty, facility managers, and other employees in a role where they may be obtaining, using, and disposing of hazardous chemicals are instructed to choose the less hazardous materials whenever possible and to only purchase quantities that will be used in a reasonable amount of time. For example, latex paints are used instead of oil-based paints whenever possible, reducing the amount of oil-based paints and solvents that the college ends up needing to dispose of. Several campuses have adopted the use of green groundskeeping products to reduce or eliminate the use of harsh fertilizers, herbicides, and pesticides. In some areas this results in a naturally vegetated landscape rather than a manicured lawn, which is a step in the right direction for several reasons.

See #1 above. In most cases it is contracted hazardous waste haulers. Over the past five years or so, the college has made a transition to more energy efficient LED lighting in most locations. This transition from florescent bulbs that contain mercury to LEDs resulted in a large number of bulbs and light ballasts that needed to be properly disposed of. CMC uses a local vendor called Bright Ideas to appropriately dispose of these items. Similarly, the college has contracted vendors for battery disposal/recycling, and the IT department has contracts for disposal/recycling of computer and other electronic equipment. In some cases, such as large lighting upgrade projects, the contractor who installs the new lighting would be required to remove and appropriately dispose of the old florescent lighting.

The college has had no significant hazardous material releases in the past 3 years.

Each science lab is required to maintain a chemical inventory, have Safety Data Sheets on hand for each chemical, and ensure that all containers are labeled. Each location purchases only the quantity of chemicals that they can use within a reasonable amount of time. As a result there is not a significant amount of redistribution of these chemicals to other locations. While there may be a cost savings with bulk purchasing, any savings is likely offset by having to repackage, label, transport, and/or store the material on site or at other locations and the higher risk that comes along with storing a larger quantity of a chemical. Paying a little more up front for smaller quantities delivered directly to the locations that need it is generally preferable to managing larger quantities. One recent example of where the college did purchase a high quantity with the intention of redistributing to other locations was with the purchase of a barrel of commercial disinfectant early in the COVID-19 pandemic. At the time there were supply chain disruptions and an expectation that a large quantity of the disinfectant would be needed. The cleaner was eventually used up, but managing the higher quantity and sharing it among campuses turned out to be somewhat challenging.

CORRecycling accepts almost any electronic waste we have, attempts to refurbish and reuse anything that has residual value, and recycles the rest.