Overall Rating Bronze - expired
Overall Score 41.01
Liaison Chad Carwein
Submission Date Feb. 14, 2017
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.1

East Carolina University
OP-21: Hazardous Waste Management

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 0.75 / 1.00 Chad Carwein
University Sustainability Manager
HSC Facilities Services
"---" 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:
Waste minimization practices are used to reduce or eliminate the amount of chemical waste generated on campus. Practices include chemical substitution with non-hazardous or less hazardous materials, good housekeeping practices including monitoring processes for leaks or spills, using chemicals on a smaller scale when conducting lab experiments/processes and on-time purchase of chemicals to minimize on-hand inventories. The University also has a RECYCHEM program where chemicals are transferred to other users instead of being offered for disposal.

A brief description of how the institution safely disposes of hazardous, universal, and non-regulated chemical waste:
Chemical wastes are collected from satellite accumulation areas across campus by trained Environmental Health and Safety staff. The collected materials are properly secured and stored in centralized storage locations until a qualified and licensed hazardous waste contractor removes the material for off-site disposal. Hazardous waste is managed and disposed of in accordance with local, state and federal regulatory requirements.

A brief description of any significant hazardous material release incidents during the previous three years, including volume, impact and response/remediation:
There were no significant hazardous material release incidents during the previous three years. EH&S is staffed with trained personnel to respond to hazardous material releases and the University has licensed environmental contractors available for remediation efforts. EH&S has responded to some minor release episodes during the previous three years such as small quantity mercury spills from thermometers and similar lab-scale chemical incidents. None resulted in any significant impact and were managed in-house without the need for contracting a third party environmental contractor.

A brief description of any inventory system employed by the institution to facilitate the reuse or redistribution of laboratory chemicals:
The University has a RECY-CHEM program to redistribute unopened or uncontaminated surplus chemicals (in their original containers) to other individuals within the University system. This will help to reduce the increasingly high costs of hazardous waste disposal on campus, while providing faculty and researchers the opportunity to acquire free chemicals. This program is part of the University’s environmental sustainability program. Laboratory instructors/managers & researchers update their inventories annually and identify any unwanted, unopened chemicals. They consult with your colleagues first to see if they need any of the chemicals. If no one in their department/division needs the surplus, they donate the unwanted, unopened chemicals to the RECY-CHEM Program. A list of these surplus chemicals is posted on the EH&S website for review by lab personnel.

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?:
No

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:
State-owned electronic waste is managed through the Central Stores Surplus department. Our current contractor, Powerhouse Recycling holds the R2 Certification, the highest environmental certification in the industry, along with the ISO 14001:2004 Certification. PHR’s complete process from transportation, to recycling, to final disposition point of all materials is audited throughout the year to follow all EPA laws and high environmental, health, security, and safety standards.

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:
79.83 Metric tons

The website URL where information about the programs or initiatives is available:
http://www.ecu.edu/cs-admin/campus_operations/recyclingandwaste.cfm

Additional documentation to support the submission:
---

Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
Data Sources: Terry Little, Recycling Manager and Phil Lewis, EHS Assistant Director

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.