Overall Rating Silver
Overall Score 52.49
Liaison Angela Oberg
Submission Date Feb. 27, 2023

STARS v2.2

Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick Campus
OP-20: Hazardous Waste Management

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 1.00 / 1.00 Alejandro Ruiz
Executive Director and Univ Safety Officer
Institutional Planning and Operations
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Part 1. Hazardous waste minimization and disposal

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:
The university, as a generator of hazardous waste, has implemented waste minimization techniques. The goal is to reduce the volume and/or the toxicity of hazardous waste generated. The policy states that the best way to reduce the amount of hazardous waste generated at Rutgers is to prevent it from becoming a waste in the first place by following these simple principles:

-Only purchase the amount of materials needed to complete a project or experiment. Disposal of excess materials often costs more than the original purchase price.
-Purchase non-toxic, non-hazardous alternative products whenever possible
-Reuse or recycle materials whenever possible

Waste minimization is practiced at Rutgers by implementing a chemical reuse program, substituting non-hazardous chemicals for hazardous chemicals, employing the concept of microscaling in chemistry experiments and providing good inventory control. Please read the information below on the specific types waste minimization,

https://ipo.rutgers.edu/rehs/hazardous-waste-management-program
https://ipo.rutgers.edu/rehs/art-hazardous-waste

A brief description of how the institution safely disposes of hazardous, universal, and non-regulated chemical waste:
REHS manages hazardous waste from all Rutgers campuses and remote off-site facilities. Hazardous waste management and disposal is strictly regulated by federal, state and local regulations. REHS holds a Part B Permit that sets forth specific requirements for managing and disposing of hazardous wastes through our Treatment, Storage and Disposal Facility (TSDF) at the Environmental Services Building (ESB) located on Davidson Road on the Busch Campus in Piscataway, NJ. REHS retains the services of a hazardous waste vendor to transport and ultimately dispose of Rutgers hazardous wastes at appropriate treatment and disposal facilities. Rutgers generates approximately 300,000 pounds of hazardous waste per year. Approximately 110,000 pounds of waste organic solvents is offered for beneficial reuse and the balance of hazardous waste is incinerated. The primary generators of hazardous waste are research laboratories, maintenance facilities and utility systems. Rutgers is obligated to manage hazardous wastes from the point of generation to ultimate disposal, commonly referred to as “from cradle to grave”.

https://ipo.rutgers.edu/rehs/hazardous-waste-management-program
https://ipo.rutgers.edu/rehs/labwaste-chemical

A brief description of any significant hazardous material release incidents during the previous three years, including volume, impact and response/remediation:
Rutgers has not had any significant hazardous material release incidents during the previous three years, all hazardous material incidents that had occurred have all been small incidental spills contained to a controlled space with no release to the environment, all less than 4 liters and only require minor clean up by staff.

A brief description of any inventory system employed by the institution to facilitate the reuse or redistribution of laboratory chemicals:
Rutgers encourages reuse or redistribution of laboratory chemicals and REHS maintains a list of “Chemical for Reuse”. Unused and unopened chemicals being disposed of as waste, due to a change in research or discontinuation of a specific research protocol, will be redistributed to other laboratories that can utilize the chemical. Sharing unused chemicals will reduce the amount of chemical waste generated. Specific applicable chemicals (typically stable compounds with a long shelf life) will be picked up by REHS and segregated in the ESB. These chemicals are cataloged on a list, which is available on our web page.

https://ipo.rutgers.edu/rehs/hazardous-waste-management-program
https://ipo.rutgers.edu/rehs/art-safety-materials-available-for-reuse

Part 2. Electronic waste diversion

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

If yes to either of the above, provide:

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:
Consumer electronics such as computers, printers, monitors, televisions, VCRs, radios and other electronic equipment that contain circuit boards are regulated as Universal Waste. Other equipment that is destined for disposal must be evaluated for electronic hardware prior to disposal or surplus. All electronic equipment that is sent to surplus in working order is tested and evaluated for marketability for refurbishment, repair, or resale and sold at online auction or secondary market through our contracted recycling vendor, or properly recycled if the needed.

BY INSTITUTION: the university provides information on how to properly collect, store, recycle and/or dispose of certain waste materials generated from office environments. The most common type of waste generated in offices that requires special attention is waste defined as Universal Waste which includes batteries, consumer electronics, fluorescent light bulbs, and mercury containing equipment (e.g. mercury switches in thermostats)
In addition, some office environments may generate toner cartridges from printers and photocopiers.
https://ipo.rutgers.edu/rehs/office-waste-mgmt-guidance
https://ipo.rutgers.edu/rehs/office-waste-management

BY STUDENTS: the university has a program for consumer electronics and other universal wastes. Electronic waste generated by students who live on campus are recycled as part of the program. Rutgers also runs Project Move Out, it’s a collaboration with the University and the city of New Brunswick accepts drop off and scheduled pickups of appliances Tv’s and computer equipment for reuse and proper recycling
http://ruoffcampus.rutgers.edu/projectmoveout/

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

Optional Fields 

Website URL where information about the institution’s hazardous waste program is available:
https://ipo.rutgers.edu/rehs

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.