Overall Rating Gold - expired
Overall Score 78.07
Liaison Kate Witte
Submission Date March 4, 2021

STARS v2.2

Keene State College
OP-20: Hazardous Waste Management

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 0.50 / 1.00 Ralph Stuart
Chemical Hygiene Officer
Environmental Health and 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:
Waste management of special waste begins with source reduction. For example, the chemistry department conducts their research using small quantities, thereby minimizing the amount of hazardous waste produced during their work. Similarly, the grounds department relies on careful management of the campus flora and fauna to avoid the use of pesticides and thereby minimizes hazardous waste associated with campus upkeep.

A brief description of how the institution safely disposes of hazardous, universal, and non-regulated chemical waste:
Any wastes that are not appropriate for landfill or drain disposal are collected for disposal by hazardous waste vendors, regardless of the regulatory status of the waste.

A brief description of any significant hazardous material release incidents during the previous three years, including volume, impact and response/remediation:
There have been no significant hazardous materials releases on the Keene State campus for the last three years.

A brief description of any inventory system employed by the institution to facilitate the reuse or redistribution of laboratory chemicals:
The science departments are small enough to fit into a single building, so sharing of chemicals and equipment between them is managed on a ad hoc basis. This is facilitated by close interdepartmental research collaborations and personal connections between faculty.

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:
There are E-Waste collection cabinets located at 6 central locations on campus, we removed our campus wide battery buckets in fear of battery contact interactions being a fire hazard. These cabinets are regularly serviced by the ROCKS crew and all materials are brought to the electronic waste shed or Universal Waste shed. There is also work order scheduled e-waste pick up for anyone on campus on an as needed basis. Most e-waste from campus is broken/old computer equipment, toner cartridges, wiring, old security panels/fire alarms, light bulbs, ballasts (pcb and non pcb), batteries, and electrical components from studios as clean outs occur. This is all picked up by Veolia, our outside vendor, for recycling.

Is the institution’s electronic waste recycler certified under the e-Stewards and/or Responsible Recycling (R2) standards?:
No

Optional Fields 

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.