Overall Rating Gold - expired
Overall Score 69.69
Liaison Stephanie MacPhee
Submission Date April 6, 2018
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.1

Dalhousie University
OP-21: Hazardous Waste Management

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 1.00 / 1.00
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Part 1 

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:
The Chemical Storage Facility is a central storage and distribution area for chemicals on campus. They refill small chemical bottles (e.g. bases) from bulk orders, minimizing packaging/bottle waste. Graduate students in the Department of Chemistry have started a Green Labs initiative. One of the objectives of this group is to minimize solvent use, and they plan on working with labs to modify introductory year experiments so that they use less chemicals. Dalhousie has a laboratory chemical safety manual that contains strategies on how to safely dispose of all hazardous materials, special, and non-regulated chemical waste. See more here: http://www.dal.ca/content/dam/dalhousie/pdf/dept/safety/Chemical/Laboratory_Chemical_Safety_Manual.pdf

A brief description of how the institution safely disposes of hazardous, universal, and non-regulated chemical waste:
The Environmental Health and Safety Office coordinates the university's hazardous waste disposal effort. With the assistance of Facilities Management (Transportation and Moving Services), trained staff collect waste solvents and related material from various locations across our campuses. The material is taken to the Chemical Storage Facility where items are sorted and either bulked, lab packed, recycled, or rendered non-hazardous for disposal. The liquid wastes are generally "bulked" into approved containers with other compatible materials and shipped for disposal and/or recycling to an approved waste facility by a licensed hazardous waste disposal firm. Materials that cannot be "bulked" are packed in approved containers with an itemized list and other paper work as required by federal and provincial acts and regulations. See more information here: https://www.dal.ca/dept/safety/programs-services/environmental-protection.html

A brief description of any significant hazardous material release incidents during the previous three years, including volume, impact and response/remediation:
No significant hazardous material release. The nuclear facility on campus was successfully decommissioned.

A brief description of any inventory system employed by the institution to facilitate the reuse or redistribution of laboratory chemicals:
The inventory system for chemical distribution was suspended due to low usage. Instead, retiring researchers are encouraged to distribute remaining chemicals within the department.

Part 2 

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:
Dalhousie University provides an electronics recycling program to all faculty and staff. Starting back in October 2008, electronic products have been collected, wiped of data, and transported to an approved provincial recycling depot. Materials from the depot are transferred to a plant where metals, glass, and plastic are recycled into new products. This program is for electronic products that have exhausted their re-use potential. The annual move-out sale, the Halifax Dump and Run, receives a number of electronic devices from students leaving residence. These items are mostly printers in excellent condition, and they are resold to the community to raise funds for charity. The sale also receives electronic donations from the community. Any broken electronics are recycled via the program described above. See more here: https://dalu.sharepoint.com/sites/mydal/dc/ITS/Pages/ElectronicsRecyclingE-Recycling.aspx

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

Optional Fields 

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:
10.50 Metric 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:
Electronic waste diversion rates are calculated using proxy weights per item. The proxy weights are calculated by averaging a sample of products from each product category over a range of suppliers. The tonnage documented above is for 2015/2016. It is an average of the collection totals using the original and new proxy weights. E-waste recycling numbers are obtained from the IT department as employees must fill out a form for their e-waste to be collected. In the few buildings that have drop-off zones, employees may not fill out a form as instructed, meaning that our actual e-waste diversion rate is likely higher than recorded.

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.