Selkirk College
OP-25: Hazardous Waste Management

Fewer hazardous materials are brought on site for lab experiments, and an effort is being made to purchase more environmentally friendly cleaning products. For example, very few chlorinated cleaning products are purchased by the College.

Every summer, a company called SyberTech Waste Reduction Ltd. removes the hazardous waste that has been collected and stored on campus.

No hazardous material release incidents have occurred.

Selkirk College faculty assistants for each school maintain an inventory of chemicals used within their respective areas. Instructors design experiments to use non-toxic reagents. Experiments are also designed to use small quantities of reagents. The result is experiments generally do not generate toxic waste. In situations where toxic wastes are generated - for example organic solvents - the wastes are stored in a special facility on campus. Periodically, a licensed agency is contracted to come to the college to safely dispose of the waste.

Electronic waste is taken to local "return-it" collection sites that have been authorized by the Electronic Product Recycling Association of BC. There are sites located in both Nelson and Castlegar.

The Electronic Products Recycling Association (EPRA) of BC and Encorp Pacific deliver the government approved End-of-Life Electronics Recycling Program throughout the province. An excerpt from the "Return-It" website describes in detail the steps taken to ensure that e-waste is recycled responsibly through the program: "EPRA is committed to recycling end-of-life electronics collected in a responsible manner that protects the environment as well as worker health and safety. EPRA only works with recyclers who have been audited and approved under the national Recycler Qualification Program, designed by the electronics industry to ensure that electronic waste is managed in a safe and environmentally sound manner. This means that all recyclers working on behalf of EPRA are prohibited from exporting electronics or substances of concern to non-OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) nations, and we neither permit nor support the use of prison labour for processing equipment. In addition, EPRA requires enhanced worker health and safety provisions with downstream accountability. Further, our Recycler Qualification Office audits each stage of the recycling process to ensure that recyclers are maintaining appropriate environmental, health, and safety controls, and properly handling all materials." () Also, the IT department, in partnership with the library, administers a computer refurbishing program. Some computers, rather than being recycled, are refurbished and given to students as draw-prizes.