Overall Rating Silver - expired
Overall Score 56.41
Liaison Audrey McSain
Submission Date March 1, 2019
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.1

Lehigh University
OP-21: Hazardous Waste Management

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 1.00 / 1.00 Gary Falasca
Director
Facilities Services
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Part 1 

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:
The university's Environmental Health and Safety department has strict safety protocols for chemical waste. Training is constantly offered to employees and walk-throughs of laboratory spaces occurs with frequency. EH&S is working toward identifying improvements to laboratory chemical waste programs in an effort to increase the amounts of chemicals that are shared between laboratories.

A brief description of how the institution safely disposes of hazardous, universal, and non-regulated chemical waste:
Environmental Health & Safety requires that all hazardous waste is tagged, capped, closed and submitted to EH&S for proper disposal. Departmentally-generated batteries are disposed of through a campus approved vendor. Lamps, ballasts and mercury-containing equipment are also collected and sent to campus-approved licensed disposal contractor.

A brief description of any significant hazardous material release incidents during the previous three years, including volume, impact and response/remediation:
Not applicable

A brief description of any inventory system employed by the institution to facilitate the reuse or redistribution of laboratory chemicals:
Chemicals no longer wanted by departments can notify the EH&S department to help either find a new owner or dispose of the materials properly.

Part 2 

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:
Student e-waste program began in spring 2014. Students, faculty and staff can drop off unwanted electronic items to an on campus collection point. Items that are still in usable condition can be selected to be sold at a community sale which raises money for K-12 homework clubs. Items not diverted to sale will be recycled by e-steward vendor.

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

Optional Fields 

Electronic waste recycled or otherwise diverted from the landfill or incinerator during the most recent year for which data is available during the previous three years:
7.73 Tons

The website URL where information about the programs or initiatives is available:
https://sustainability.lehigh.edu/job-opportunities

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.