Overall Rating Reporter - expired
Overall Score
Liaison Jennifer Wilson
Submission Date March 23, 2015
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.0

Georgia State University
OP-25: Hazardous Waste Management

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

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:

-Training courses are provided to help laboratory personnel understand the burden hazardous waste places on the environment, as well as, the financial impact of waste disposal.
-Training courses encourage the use of greener chemicals and analyzing processes to see if experiments may be performed using less chemicals.
-Waste drums from teaching labs are tracked and monitored for water content to ensure labs are not dumping water in the drums as an effort to increase the frequency of waste pickups.
-Periodic walkthroughs of labs are done to make sure labs are adhering to guidelines and regulations.


A brief description of how the institution safely disposes of hazardous, universal, and non-regulated chemical waste:

-A private waste vendor is responsible for packing and transporting all waste for disposal. Based on the content of the waste, the vendor may dispose of it through several means (incineration, recycling, burned for fuel). A report is then returned to our department which gives a detailed layout of how all the waste was disposed.


A brief description of any significant hazardous material release incidents during the previous three years, including volume, impact and response/remediation:

Not available.


A brief description of any inventory system employed by the institution to facilitate the reuse or redistribution of laboratory chemicals:

Chematix is GSU’s inventory and tracking mechanism of 50,000 chemicals across campus. It allows GSU to track chemicals from cradle-to-grave. Using a barcode and scanner, chemicals can be transferred between laboratories. Chematix also allows GSU to properly handle chemical waste disposal.


Does the institution have or participate in a program to responsibly recycle, reuse, and/or refurbish all 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

A brief description of the electronic waste recycling program(s):

GSU owned electronics that are damaged or obsolete are recycled through GSU Surplus Operations. Departments can contact GSU Surplus to pick up computers, printers, an other various electronics for recycling through the University contracted vendor. Environmental Programs, located in Dahlberg Hall, recycles light bulbs, batteries, used oil, ballasts and paint. In some cases Environmental Programs can pick up the items that need to be recycled. For questions about electronics recycled through GSU Surplus, please call 404 413-8763.


A brief description of steps taken to ensure that e-waste is recycled responsibly, workers’ basic safety is protected, and environmental standards are met:

GSU Surplus collects electronic equipment for recycling. Items are housed in our warehouse facility on Brady Ave. prior to transport/pickup by the University contracted e-waste hauler. GSU staff conducting building maintenance as well as handling surplus and e-waste materials receive extensive safety and hazardous waste training by the Facilities Management Sr. Training Specialist.


The website URL where information about the institution’s hazardous and electronic-waste recycling programs is available:
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:

Additional website URL where information about hazardous materials management is available

-http://ursa.research.gsu.edu/ursa/compliance/laboratory-safety/

http://www.ursa.research.gsu.edu/ursa/compliance/lab-safety-and-hazard-communication/


Additional website URL where information about hazardous materials management is available

-http://ursa.research.gsu.edu/ursa/compliance/laboratory-safety/

http://www.ursa.research.gsu.edu/ursa/compliance/lab-safety-and-hazard-communication/

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.