| Overall Rating | Gold - expired |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 68.11 |
| Liaison | Jean-Michel Champagne |
| Submission Date | Feb. 10, 2021 |
HEC Montréal
OP-20: Hazardous Waste Management
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
1.00 / 1.00 |
Jean-Michel
Champagne Sustainable Development Officer Infrastructure - Sustainability Office |
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?:
A brief description of steps taken to reduce hazardous, special (e.g. coal ash), universal, and non-regulated chemical waste:
The various sources of hazmat have been identified and are managed according to their properties, according to a strategy based on risk assessment and mitigation. The strategy is based on a four-tiered approach:
1. Do we need the hazmat?
2. Can we replace a hazmat by something less hazardous?
3. Can we implement engineering design to reduce or eliminate risk of Hazmat?
4. Can we manage the hazmat risk that cannot be illuminated or mitigated?
For example, chemical used for water treatment is handled by professional technician during bulk delivery, and stored in a permanent container that neither generates waste nor manual handling of chemical contaminated material. Diesel fuel is monitored by an emergency alarm system and fuel delivery area was designed to contain any spill, avoiding any diesel contaminated wipes or sorbent that would normally be used to clean delivery area. Cleaning products are delivered in concentrate, smaller size, with dilutes fixed on the cap; there is no handling of concentrated chemical and empty containers are empty enough to be placed directly in recycling bins. Printer cartridges are returned to the manufacturer through contractual agreement to be recycled and reused. These measure eliminates or control hazmat waste that would normally be generated by site and occupant activities.
A brief description of how the institution safely disposes of hazardous, universal, and non-regulated chemical waste:
The hazardous wastes that are still generated on site are treated in the safest way as possible, and have their own adapted elimination path. For example, batteries generated on campus by staff or students can be recycled through designated bins that are regularly collected by maintenance staff to avoid hazardous leakage. E-Waste has their own collection bin that cannot be opened without a special key (Electro-Bac). Empty chemical drums and pails are stored in a designated area and eliminated annually by a hazmat carrier. Mercury lamps, such as cfl or tubes, are piled and shipped in bulk to a specialized facility through a provincial program (Recyc-Fluo). Batteries of all sort are shipped to and recycled by Call-2-Recycle. Some non-reusable ink cartridge is recuperated by Mira, a not-for-profit organization that will refurbish and reuse them. E-Waste generated by IT has their own recycling program and nothing is placed in garbage. Altogether, these programs address each type of hazmat waste specificity.
A brief description of any significant hazardous material release incidents during the previous three years, including volume, impact and response/remediation:
No major spill or released occurred during the last year. There are occasional halocarbon leaks from cooling equipment, or oil leaks from cars in the parking lot.
A brief description of any inventory system employed by the institution to facilitate the reuse or redistribution of laboratory chemicals:
N/A
Does the institution have or participate in a program to responsibly recycle, reuse, and/or refurbish electronic waste generated by the institution?:
Does the institution have or participate in a program to responsibly recycle, reuse, and/or refurbish electronic waste generated by students?:
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:
Electrobac (for students and staff) and Insetech (for IT department) collect and recycle the E-Waste generated on site. They provide reports for each pickup, with the detail and volume of waste.
Bigger electric and electronic wastes, such as screen, printers, wires, or consumer goods abandoned by people at collection points, are centralized and recycled by Quantum (formerly known as GEEP), a certified e-waste recycling company.
Recyclers are certified under ARPE-Québec, local equivalent of e-stewards and/or Responsible Recycling (R2) standards.
Is the institution’s electronic waste recycler certified under the e-Stewards and/or Responsible Recycling (R2) standards?:
Website URL where information about the institution’s hazardous waste program is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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.