Florida Gulf Coast University
OP-21: Hazardous Waste Management

The Department of Environmental Health and Safety works with any potential generators of hazardous waste to minimize the amount of waste generated. Each department of Florida Gulf Coast University is responsible for reasonable and appropriate actions to minimize the amount of hazardous waste generated by their operations, teaching, and research. Waste minimization techniques include, but are not limited to: eliminating the waste generating process, substituting a non-hazardous or less hazardous material, purchasing smaller quantities, using less material, reducing the scale of procedures or processes, partnering with other labs or stockrooms to share supplies, reusing and recycling materials where practical, and not purchasing large quantities of materials because they are less expensive per unit volume. No special wastes are present on campus.

Florida Gulf Coast University is still successful in remaining a Very Small Quantity Generator (VSQG). This is done by diligent and vigilant oversight by Environmental Health and Safety and by purifying chemicals such as alcohols, acetone, and xylenes for reuse in classrooms and laboratories. In our efforts to retain this official generator status, we use several waste minimization techniques to prevent pollution and reduce the waste production on campus. The U.S. EPA and the Florida DEP recommend these techniques, such as solvent recycling, bioremediation, and simple chemical neutralization.

There have been no significant release incidents in the history of the institution.

FGCU uses ChemTracker Inventory System to maintain a live inventory of all chemicals on campus. EH&S collects and redistributes chemicals that are no longer needed from one area of campus to another. Our solvent recycling process is a clear-cut, streamlined process where spent xylenes, alcohols, and acetone mixtures are purified through fractional distillation and reused in the same original processes or for less sensitive ones. EH&S functions as the wheels of the process, collecting the spent solutions from the labs, running them through the recycler, and returning them to the lab or stockroom.

Any department that has electronic equipment requiring disposal contacts the Work Management Center at 590-1370 or wmc@fgcu.edu, and provides both the location and amount of electronics to be recycled. The Work Managment Center coordinates the delivery of e-waste to Lee County who disposes of it with the TK6 Worldwide. None of the e-waste sent to TK6 Worldwide is landfilled or incinerated. Please see their website for more details: http://www.tk6worldwide.com/services/asset-recovery-and-recycling/ The Environmental Health & Safety Department and University Colloquium Department offer an annual e-waste collection drive for personal property for students, faculty, and staff to responsibly and safely dispose of electronic waste. In the past, we have partnered with Goodwill, a Dell Reconnect partner, to accomplish this.

The tons of e-waste recycled or otherwise diverted is from FY 15-16.