Overall Rating Silver - expired
Overall Score 53.93
Liaison Joanne Wong
Submission Date June 20, 2016
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.0

Mills College
OP-25: Hazardous Waste Management

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 1.00 / 1.00 Linda Zitzner
Director of Campus Facilities
Facilities
"---" 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:

The institution tracks, monitors and optimizes chemical usage. Reusable batteries are prioritized.


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

The institution discards hazardous, univeral and non-regulated waste through a third-party certified service provider.


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

None.


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

The Chemistry and Biology Departments conserve and reuse laboratory chemicals as much as possible. Labs are designed to minimize waste and maximize reuse. For example, silver from a General Chemistry Laboratory is retained, cleaned, and reused year after year.


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):

The Mills College IT Department picks up any e-waste upon request from a department. Mills-owned equipment that is still in working order is donated to the Oakland Unified School District for K-12 students to use. For e-waste that is not in working order or student e-waste, Mills partners with an outside company to come pick it up and process it. The company Mills partners with is a cradle to cradle operation for electronic waste and has been recycling since 1980. They are BAN e-Steward certified as well as ISO 14001 certified. Because of these certifications and a transparent paper trail, Mills is able to be sure that the e-waste is recycled in the most environmentally sound and socially responsible way.


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

Mills College has an active program on campus to collect e-waste that is no longer useful to Mills departments and students. Mills-owned equipment that is still in working order is donated to the Oakland Unified School District for K-12 students to use. For e-waste that is not in working order or student e-waste, Mills partners with an outside company to come pick it up and process it. The company Mills partners with is a cradle to cradle operation for electronic waste and has been recycling since 1980. They are BAN e-Steward certified as well as ISO 14001 certified. Because of these certifications and a transparent paper trail, Mills is able to be sure that the e-waste is recycled in the most environmentally sound and socially responsible way.


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:
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