Nova Scotia Community College
OP-25: Hazardous Waste Management

All 13 NSCC campuses have been BOMABESt certified since 2009. As a requirement to this certification, each campus has a campus-specific Hazardous Waste Management program in place. We look for ways of reducing our waste chemicals and associated costs. For example, a chloride probe was purchased at our main laboratory at the Waterfront Campus, which gives more consistent results then the colourmetric method with generating hazardous waste.

All waste that is deemed hazardous is properly stored in the appropriate containers. It is properly handled according to Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System. All staff and students are required to take an online WHMIS course and if students are staff with be working with hazardous materials the staff will teach them the appropriate disposal methods of that hazardous material. For example, at the Waterfront Campus students are not allowed into the lab until they have completed their WHMIS course to ensure that they have to proper education regarding hazardous materials. All NSCC campuses that have hazardous waste and materials will collect and store the materials according to WHMIS regulations. All potentially hazardous liquids are stored in secondary containment. A qualified contractor collects and ensures appropriate disposal of hazardous wastes.

None that had happened in the last 3 years. NSCC's Occupation Health Safety & Environmental Services team is dedicated to providing emergency preparedness training and drills to all NSCC employees. A main component of this training is chemical spills training. In the even of a significant hazardous material release NSCC employees are prepared to prevent and deal with such an incident.

NSCC does not currently have a system that supports the redistribution and reuse of hazardous materials. As a college we are currently transitioning out of using hazardous products into more environmentally friendly options and use the proper disposal methods of the undesired chemicals to ensure they are not being used. For our laboratories NSCC tries to utilize local programs or contact the municipality to inquire if the left over chemicals can be reused. If they can't be redistributed they are properly disposed of.

NSCC has 13 campuses located in both rural and metro areas of the province. Each campus individually manages their electronic waste. The majority of electronic waste generated at the college is computers and electrical waste (such as light ballasts). All used computers at the college are repurposed and either donated, reused or sold in auction. Each campus collects their electronic waste and takes it to a local recycling depot. Some campuses allow students to bring in electronic waste to be disposed of. For example, our Annapolis valley campuses allow the staff and students to bring batteries and CFL bulbs to be collected and recycled. These campuses also went through a LED light change over and sold all the old CFL light ballasts to the public, allowing them to be repurposed instead of disposing of them in the landfill.

All NSCC campuses recycle electronics. Each campus uses a local depot to recycle their waste. The Annapolis Valley and Akerley campuses rebuild and donate old computers if they are still useable. All of our campuses follow the Electronic Products Recycling Association’s guidelines for Nova Scotia. http://www.recyclemyelectronics.ca/ns/who-is-epra-nova-scotia/