Overall Rating Gold
Overall Score 67.20
Liaison Jessica Thompson
Submission Date June 20, 2024

STARS v2.2

Northern Michigan University
OP-20: Hazardous Waste Management

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 1.00 / 1.00 Brandon Sager
Sustainability Coordinator
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:

NMU's Safety Director provides training on hazardous waste management and regulates the proper handling and accumulation of hazardous waste on campus. NMU faculty and staff are required to participate in periodic training opportunities regarding this topic. See below for additional information on NMU's hazardous waste management program: https://nmu.edu/safetydepartment/waste-disposal


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

Each department is required to follow formal policies and procedures for management of hazardous materials. These policies have been reviewed and approved by both the department heads and the NMU Safety Director. On a periodic basis, Public Safety schedules a hazardous waste pick up from a licensed Treatment, Storage, and Disposal Facility. Department heads submit an inventory of all hazardous materials to be disposed of for the licensed disposer to account for when picking up hazardous materials. See below for additional information on NMU's hazardous waste management program: https://nmu.edu/safetydepartment/waste-disposal


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

There have been no significant release incidents at NMU during the previous 3 years.


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

NMU employees are required to follow NMU's Chemical Inventory Policy for management, storage, and disposal of chemical materials. This includes annual reviews of stored materials to ensure accuracy and compliance with regulatory requirements. Employees are also provided with a detailed set of procedures for complying with the Chemical Inventory Policy, including steps to take to track chemical materials, as well as descriptions/classes of items subject to the policy. Encourage departments to collaborate and share "like" chemicals to reduce the amount of chemicals and hazardous annually.


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:

Electronic waste is recycled according to NMU's Chemical, Universal, and Regulated Equipment Disposal procedures. Under these procedures, faculty/staff contact central receiving to collect the electronic waste and accumulates/stores the waste for removal. Students can recycle batteries and electronics through NMU's partnership with Goodwill/Comprenew for recycling of electronic materials and used batteries. Comprenew is certified under e-Stewards and R2.


Is the institution’s electronic waste recycler certified under the e-Stewards and/or Responsible Recycling (R2) standards?:
Yes

Website URL where information about the institution’s hazardous waste program is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:

https://comprenew.org/about/certifications/


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.