Overall Rating Gold - expired
Overall Score 68.23
Liaison Josh Lasky
Submission Date March 5, 2020

STARS v2.2

George Washington University
OP-20: Hazardous Waste Management

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 1.00 / 1.00 Mark Stegmeier
Ast Director,
Health & Safety
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Part 1. Hazardous waste minimization and disposal

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:
GW has policies and programs in place to minimize the production of hazardous waste, and disposes of all hazardous, universal, and non-regulated chemical waste in a responsible manner with a preference towards recycling or re-purposing of all materials. Hazardous chemical waste is sorted and shipped to a licensed disposal facility where waste with the ability to be recycled is re-purposed or reused. All other hazardous waste is incinerated. Other waste is recycled: waste oil, batteries, and CFL light bulbs. Waste minimization programs include efforts to retrofit fixtures to accept more environmentally-conscious light bulbs, and the elimination of oil-based paint where possible.

A brief description of how the institution safely disposes of hazardous, universal, and non-regulated chemical waste:
GW uses licensed contractors, haulers, and receiving facilities to ensure compliance with all applicable DC and Federal regulations. Our insurance provider requires disposal standards that exceed Federal regulations and prohibit off-shore disposal of hazardous waste.

A brief description of any significant hazardous material release incidents during the previous three years, including volume, impact and response/remediation:
GW has not had any significant hazardous material release in the last three years. All minor spills are promptly cleaned up by staff or contractors and are properly disposed of using licensed contractors and registered disposal facilities.

A brief description of any inventory system employed by the institution to facilitate the reuse or redistribution of laboratory chemicals:
GW has policies and programs in place to minimize the production of hazardous waste, and disposes of all hazardous, universal, and non-regulated chemical waste in a responsible manner with a preference towards recycling or re-purposing of all materials. Hazardous chemical waste is sorted and shipped to a licensed disposal facility where waste with the ability to be recycled is re-purposed or reused. All other hazardous waste is incinerated.

Part 2. Electronic waste diversion

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:
GW community members can submit a request for removal of GW owned electronics such as printers, PC's, CRT monitors, laptop computers, hard drives, networking equipment, telephones and other office e-waste from Foggy Bottom, Mount Vernon, and Virginia Science & Technology campuses. The Division of Operations Transportation Services team picks up these items and delivers them to the proper disposal facility.

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

Optional Fields 

Website URL where information about the institution’s hazardous waste program is available:
https://safety.gwu.edu/

Additional documentation to support the submission:
---

Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
Our ecycling vendor is R2, ISO:14001, and OHSAS: 18001 Certified

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.