Overall Rating Bronze
Overall Score 40.09
Liaison Allison Jenks
Submission Date March 5, 2021

STARS v2.2

New Mexico State University
OP-20: Hazardous Waste Management

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 0.50 / 1.00 Drew Kaczmarek
Assistant Director
Environmental Health Safety & Risk Management
"---" 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:

When material is picked up and we have the option to re-use it, we give it to another department or researcher. We have a contractor who recycles and re-uses motor or transformer oils. We also train all employees working with hazardous materials and reinforce strategies to reduce waste. NMSU requires that individuals obtain approval before accepting any donated hazardous materials.


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

Environmental Health and Safety picks up, for free, any hazardous materials on campus. We contract with a number of different EPA-permitted companies that have been pre-qualified through an extensive purchasing review (such as Clean Harbors, Stericycle, and Veolia). Waste is managed by the NMSU staff of four highly-qualified and competent individuals who have been trained in all regulatory requirements relating to proper disposal of hazardous materials and waste.


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:

We keep an inventory of chemicals. The Environmental Health & Safety Office attempts to distribute excess chemicals to other departments. We have software that maintains chemical inventory that creates a list of chemicals that will be shared for re-distribution.


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

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:

As a policy, all electronic devices are sent to the Property Office; all hard drives are erased, and then sold at auction. We ascertain that the products do not go to countries where the hazardous materials are taken out without safety precautions. We send our e-waste to New Mexico prison system where it is dismantled or re-used when possible.


Is the institution’s electronic waste recycler certified under the e-Stewards and/or Responsible Recycling (R2) standards?:
No

Website URL where information about the institution’s hazardous waste program is available:
---

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.