Missouri State University
OP-25: Hazardous Waste Management

The Environmental Management Department promotes waste minimization through training and outreach while encouraging units to minimize volume of chemicals and consider purchasing less hazardous options. Other steps taken include: Mercury exchange program: Anyone turning in old mercury thermometers receives twice that number of alcohol thermometers in exchange. Collected mercury thermometers are submitted for recycling/recovery. CRT Amnesty Program: Encouraged offices that had old (but working) CRT-type monitors ‘saved’ in closets to turn them in at no cost for recycling. To date, over 750 CRTs have been recycled. Fluorescent or other mercury light bulbs across parts of campus have been replaced with LED lighting, reducing the generation of universal waste mercury bulbs. These replacement projects are expected to continue.

MSU has strategies and procedures to safely dispose of all hazardous, universal, and non-regulated chemical waste. The Environmental Management Department manages hazardous and universal waste generated on campus to ensure regulatory compliance and proper disposal. Wastes are disposed through licensed/permitted contractors (i.e. Veolia Environmental Solutions, Waste Management, etc.) Non-regulated chemical wastes are disposed appropriately.

No significant hazardous material releases have occurred in the past 3 years.

The Environmental Management Department maintains a Chemical Surplus inventory stocked with materials from labs where chemicals are no longer needed or procedural changes create unneeded supplies. An inventory of these materials is maintained online where University faculty can locate and request available materials. Materials from the Chemical Exchange inventory are delivered and supplied at no charge.

MSU maintains an active program to recycle electronic waste generated by the institution that can no longer be repaired or have reached the end of service life. Electronic waste is submitted to the Environmental Management Department. Surplus electronics are auctioned through the Property Control Unit of the Department of Procurement Services. Unsold or unusable electronics (e-waste) are properly recycled. Used ink cartridges are often donated to a campus organization or local non-profit to sell to a recycling facility. Printer ink cartridges are collected in each residence hall lobby. Periodically a student leadership organization collects them and delivers them to a vendor who reuses them. Batteries are collected at each residence hall front desk and delivered to Environmental Management for disposal. If students have other electronic waste they are encouraged to contact Environmental Management for disposal or to donate items that still function during the end of semester donation collections that take place in each residence hall.

Faculty, staff and students who deal with hazardous or universal waste, hazardous substances, and spill response are required to receive training in accordance with the University’s and/or Departmental Chemical Hygiene Plans. No faculty, student or staff member is allowed to work unsupervised in a position in which they handle or are exposed to hazardous waste, hazardous materials, or are involved in spill response until they have received the required training. The Director of Environmental Management (and the designated Back-Up DEM) attends training/refresher courses to develop skills and increase knowledge in the areas of hazardous materials and hazardous waste, DOT requirements, OSHA requirements related to hazardous materials, webpage design and development for disseminating information, bio-safety and bio-hazardous waste, and to maintain Certified Hazardous Materials Manager status.