Pennsylvania State University
OP-20: Hazardous Waste Management

Penn State has had a policy requiring the reduction in volume or toxicity of hazardous waste since 1988. It specifies that ""Departments that generate hazardous chemical wastes shall ensure that a waste reduction program is in effect and that it is being adhered to."" The policy lists examples of ways to reduce waste by ""making substitutions, purchasing smaller quantities, implementing a chemical inventory to prevent duplication, and integrating microscale techniques in inorganic and organic chemistry labs"". The Senior Vice President for Finance and Business establishes and approves the policy and procedure for hazardous waste disposal within the environment of The Pennsylvania State University. See http://guru.psu.edu/policies/SY20.html PSU also has several other policies that reduce universal and other non regulated waste. Other steps taken to reduce waste include:
-Chemical Redistribution Program
-Mercury Thermometer and Barometer exchange with non-hazardous equivalents
-Battery recycling
-Fluorescent bulb recycling
-Implemented university-wide chemical inventory software
-Microscale chemical use in all undergraduate chemical lab classes
-Laboratory chemical cleanouts
-Pesticide Program
-Solvent distillation units

Penn State has contracts in place with fully licensed vendors for hazardous waste disposal, fluorescent lamp recycling, and waste oil recycling for the wastes generated at the University. The University works with our hazardous waste vendor to dispose of our waste, both hazardous and non-hazardous, using the following hierarchy in determining the disposal method; recycle, treat, stabilize, incinerate, landfill. The fluorescent lamp recycler recycles all parts (glass, metal, and mercury) of the fluorescent lamps. The waste oil recycler recycles our waste oil and also recycles or treats our glycol containing liquids, depending on the concentration of the glycol in the waste. The University has also started to use a compressed gas cylinder recycling company to recycle our “waste” compressed gases.

During the 3-year period 1/1/20 through 12/31/2022, there were no reportable incidents on Penn State-University Park property. This information was obtained from the Environmental Compliance Engineer with Environmental Health and Safety (EHS).

In our previous STARS report, the former EHS Environmental Compliance Engineer provided a list of incidences from many campuses, none of which were or are considered significant hazardous material release incidents. For this report, after conferring with the current Environmental Compliance Engineer it was determined that there were no significant hazardous material release incidents on the University Park campus during the three-year period. It appears that the former EHS Environmental Compliance Engineer provided a list of any and all incidents as evidence that records were kept for any spills or incidents as an example of how records are kept. This year, we are including only those records considered by EHS to be significant hazardous material release incidents.

PSU has implemented a university-wide, mandatory chemical inventory system – CHIMS. This is a software package purchased through Stanford. In addition, PSU coordinates a successful chemical redistribution program where faculty, through email, are provided a list of chemicals available from other laboratories. The University also encourages faculty that are leaving the University to give chemicals they are leaving behind to their colleagues at Penn State, as part of our laboratory close-out procedure.

Penn State Lion Surplus is responsible for the collection, sale and/or disposal of University-owned equipment, supplies and/or materials - including electronics - which have become obsolete, surplus or scrap to the needs of any University department. Items are disposed through resale, transfer to another department, or recycling. Some computers are sold through an on-site Computer Auction. Items that cannot be reused are sent to a certified recycler, currently Maven Technologies.

Lion Surplus also has an annual Electronics Recycling Day where faculty, staff, and students have the opportunity to drop off their used electronics for disposal in an environmentally safe manner.