Overall Rating Silver - expired
Overall Score 57.96
Liaison Tracey Coronado
Submission Date March 15, 2018
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.1

Missouri State University
OP-21: Hazardous Waste Management

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 1.00 / 1.00 Doug Neidigh
Sustainability Coordinator
Environmental Management
"---" 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 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 specific steps taken include: 1. 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. 2. 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, 984 CRTs have been recycled through this program. 3. 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 continuing.

A brief description of how the institution safely disposes of hazardous, universal, and non-regulated chemical waste:
Missouri State 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, Tradebe, Clean Harbors, etc.) Non-regulated chemical wastes are disposed appropriately.

A brief description of any significant hazardous material release incidents during the previous three years, including volume, impact and response/remediation:
No significant hazardous material releases have occurred in the past 3 years.

A brief description of any inventory system employed by the institution to facilitate the reuse or redistribution of laboratory chemicals:
The Environmental Management Department works with other departments to redistribute materials from labs where chemicals are no longer needed or procedural changes create unneeded supplies. An inventory of these materials is generated and distributed to other potential users on request. These items are delivered and supplied at no charge.

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:
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 Property Control Unit of the Department of Procurement Services; items that cannot be sold are provided to the Environmental Management department for recycling through a certified recycling facility (ComputerRecyclingCenter.com). Used toner/ink cartridges and spent batteries are collected by student workers provided through a student-funded program. Batteries are recycled through the local e-waste facility, and toner cartridges are recycled through a local cartridge recycling facility. In the residence halls, printer ink cartridges are collected in each residence hall lobby. Periodically a student leadership organization collects them and delivers them to a vendor for refill/reuse. Batteries are collected at each residence hall front desk and delivered to Environmental Management for recycling. 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.

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:
2.70 Metric tons

The website URL where information about the programs or initiatives is available:
http://www.missouristate.edu/environmental/

Additional documentation to support the submission:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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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.