| Overall Rating | Silver - expired |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 54.26 |
| Liaison | Stephanie MacPhee |
| Submission Date | Dec. 9, 2020 |
| Executive Letter | Download |
Toronto Metropolitan University (formerly Ryerson University)
OP-21: Hazardous Waste Management
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
1.00 / 1.00 |
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?:
A brief description of steps taken to reduce hazardous, special (e.g. coal ash), universal, and non-regulated chemical waste:
EHS has created multiple tools to help supervisors and users manage their chemical hazards.
The Chemical Safety Manual, available to Ryerson students, faculty, and staff members, provides health and safety information on the entire lifecycle of each chemical stored on site. This includes delivery, inventory, labelling, use, storage, record-keeping requirements and disposal. The manual also outlines the requirements and procedures established by the university for working with chemicals, as well as roles and responsibilities for supervisors, employees and students who come into contact with them as part of their role. Through the hierarchy of controls outlined in our Chemical Safety Manual we ask individuals where possible to eliminate or substitute their chemicals for a less hazardous chemical.
A brief description of how the institution safely disposes of hazardous, universal, and non-regulated chemical waste:
Hazardous waste generators within the university submits a waste request to EHS to arrange and coordinate disposal of their hazardous waste. Disposal of hazardous waste is completed through approved hazardous waste vendors by the Ontario Ministry of Environment for both chemical and biohazardous waste. We follow the hazardous waste regulation and apply it across to waste generating streams. The Chemical Safety Program is in compliance by law with the Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA) and the Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System (WHMIS).
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 incidents involving significant hazardous material releases at Ryerson over the past three years. The college has procedures in place to address chemical spills and prevent harmful exposures should such an event occur.
A brief description of any inventory system employed by the institution to facilitate the reuse or redistribution of laboratory chemicals:
The university uses an inventory management system called Vertere that tracks all incoming and diminishes chemicals. Vertere allows anyone who uses chemicals to view what other individuals are using and promote reuse or redistribution of chemicals amongst each other. Chemicals are shipped to shipping & receiving and barcoded by EHS. The chemical is repackaged and delivered to the appropriate lab. Upon diminishing the chemical, the barcodes are sent to EHS for removal from the inventory system.
Does the institution have or participate in a program to responsibly recycle, reuse, and/or refurbish electronic waste generated by the institution?:
Does the institution have or participate in a program to responsibly recycle, reuse, and/or refurbish electronic waste generated by students?:
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:
Ryerson's electronic waste recycling program accepts Ryerson-owned devices such as computers, printers, photocopiers, smartphones and mobile phones. For Ryerson-owned devices with storage systems, faculty and staff are encouraged to contact Computing and Communications Services (CCS) for guidance wiping confidential information from Ryerson-owned devices such as computers, printers, photocopiers, smartphones and mobile phones. If faculty and staff members have any electronic devices for disposal, they must submit a service request to let CCS know. Facilities Management and Development (FMD) staff will come by to pick up the items from the required location.
Additionally, Ryerson has 15 battery recycling stations located across the campus where students, staff and faculty are encouraged to bring their used batteries. Campus Facilities & Sustainability has a recycling program for cell phones, PDAs, desktops and laptops computers, printers and multifunction devices, and servers and RAID storage systems.
Sustainability Office staff host residence cleanups where they set up a collection station inside student residences during student move out schedules to collect waste that can be diverted. The donations are collected and transported by the Sustainable Office to thrift stores.
Ryerson’s RUsed furniture program connects unused office materials to Ryerson employees in need of office materials. For example, the program allows staff to post online about a piece of office equipment that is not being used which would otherwise be thrown away. Ryerson employees that are in need of specific equipment can connect with the owner of the post on a first come first serve basis to acquire the material for their office. The program works for office furniture as well as equipment such as projectors and Cestron systems and is another way the Ryerson community is empowered to upcycle and divert waste on campus.
Is the institution’s electronic waste recycler certified under the e-Stewards and/or Responsible Recycling (R2) standards?:
Electronic waste recycled or otherwise diverted from the landfill or incinerator during the most recent year for which data is available during the previous three years:
The website URL where information about the programs or initiatives is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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.