Florida State University
OP-21: Hazardous Waste Management

By law, the University is required to strive to reduce the amount of hazardous waste it generates; therefore, University personnel are directed to take the following measures: • Buy only those amounts of hazardous materials which can be used before the expiration date of the material. • Use up the hazardous material completely for the purpose for which it is intended. • When finished with a stable and uncontaminated product, determine if someone else in the department has a legitimate need for, and can use, the product.

RCRA hazardous and select non-regulated wastes are handled by first ensuring that all personnel who may use chemical products which may become hazardous wastes are trained on proper hazardous waste collection and storage at least annually. Suitable waste collection containers are provided, free of charge by Environmental Health & Safety (EH&S), as needed. These containers are labeled, kept closed when not in use, and located in designated areas near the point of generation. When finished with the containers or containers reach ¾ full, EH&S picks up and moves containers to a central storage facility to be logged into a database, placed in secondary containment, and segregated for eventual off-site shipment. Usually every two months or when quantities warrant, and never more than every 90 days, EH&S contacts EPA licensed contractors and arranges for the EPA to visit FSU’s facility, stabilize and package the chemicals appropriately for transport, and take them to a properly licensed disposal facility. After these wastes are rendered non-hazardous, through destruction or other means, EH&S is provided with a certificate of disposal which is kept for at least 3 years along with copies of all other generated paperwork. Universal wastes are handled similarly though the collection, packaging and paperwork requirements are less stringent, since they are going to be recycled versus being destroyed. These wastes are either transported to a local recycling center directly (i.e. - Interstate Battery or VEOLIA Environmental, Inc.) or arrangements are made for pick-up by a recycling company (i.e. a used oil company). This waste is still tracked and the paperwork is also kept for at least 3 years.

In December 2015, approximately between 200-250 gallons of diesel fuel were released from the above ground storage tank serving an emergency generator at the WFSU radio broadcast relay station. The process of fuel transfers between the generator’s 500-gallon belly tank and the 1500-gallon auxiliary tank, adjacent to the generator, did not operate as intended and caused an overflow and discharge to the land surface. The design flaw has since been corrected to alleviate future occurrences. The spill was immediately contained. The Leon County Department of Growth and Environmental Management was notified, as well as Florida Department of Environmental Protection. An emergency response company that specializes in petroleum spill cleanup was contracted to perform immediate response, assess and cleanup all accessible areas that were impacted. Approximately 94.4 tons of soil was transported offsite for disposal. The soil impacted by the diesel fuel have been properly excavated and disposed. This process was completed in accordance with those recommendations in December 2015.

None, the University has been investigating RFID or scanner labeling of all incoming products to be able to perform periodic chemical inventories in a safe manner with minimal handling. The hardware and software is available and the cost is expensive but not prohibitive. The main reason for not adopting implementing this program is the lack of a centralized receiving point for these products and the inability to control new materials entering campus. Remedies to this are actively being pursued as part of our chemical procurement contract renegotiation.

When electronics become obsolete, uneconomical, or inefficient, FSU departments may request the property be classified as surplus and recycled. The Surplus Property Division handles the e-waste recycling program at FSU and regularly picks-up IT equipment, including but not limited to: computers, hard drives, cell phones, copiers, laptops, tablets and scanners. These items are sorted, divided into categories, and prepped for shipment to the e-Waste Recycler. For security reasons, IT assets that are classified as surplus are not eligible for transfer back into the university. After a full truckload has accumulated it is picked by the e-waste recycler. FSU’s E-waste provider is an R2 (Responsible Recycling) certified provider that also complies with ISO 14001:2004 and OHSAS 18001:2007 certifications.