Missouri State University
OP-20: 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 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. Evaluation process implemented to identify and remove non-hazardous waste from the hazardous waste stream, minimizing materials shipped off-campus as hazardous.
3. Fluorescent or other mercury light bulbs across parts of campus continue to be replaced with LED lighting, reducing the generation of universal waste mercury bulbs.

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. Non-regulated chemical wastes are disposed appropriately.

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

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.

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. Electronic waste, or e-waste, consists of electronic devices such as televisions, computers, computer monitors, printers, cell phones, desk phones, copiers, VCRs, stereo equipment, etc. 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.