Overall Rating Silver - expired
Overall Score 50.52
Liaison Alicia Hodenfield
Submission Date Feb. 18, 2021

STARS v2.2

Sonoma State University
OP-20: Hazardous Waste Management

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 1.00 / 1.00 Megan Varnadore
Director of Resiliency and Sustainability Operations
Risk Management & Safety Services
"---" 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:
EH&S (Environmental, Health & Safety) department of the university provides assistance to employees that work with hazardous materials. EH&S prepares and maintains plans required by regulatory agencies, including:
* Hazardous Materials Business Plan
* Emergency Response Contingency Plan
* Hazardous Waste Minimization Plan
* Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasures Plan
* Medical Waste Management Plan

Also, the following steps are taken to reduce hazardous and chemical waste:
* Order only what is needed.
* Substitute for a less hazardous alternative.
* Use chemicals completely to avoid excess.
* Whenever possible recycle all waste for each waste stream.

The website below presents the environmental project, safety project, and construction project specifications that are to be followed when working with hazardous materials and waste on campus.

https://web.sonoma.edu/ehs/contract_lang/contract_elang.html

A brief description of how the institution safely disposes of hazardous, universal, and non-regulated chemical waste:
We follow all California and Federal Regulations to ensure proper disposal and handling of waste from cradle to grave.

A brief description of any significant hazardous material release incidents during the previous three years, including volume, impact and response/remediation:
No such incidents occurred.

A brief description of any inventory system employed by the institution to facilitate the reuse or redistribution of laboratory chemicals:
There are inventories for Chemistry, Biology, and Art departments. All work cooperatively to ensure chemicals are accounted for and if no longer needed, they are utilized by another department.
The document below explains the way the institution facilitates the reuse or redistribution of laboratory chemicals.

https://web.sonoma.edu/ehs/pubs/chem_waste_dispose_chart.pdf

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:
A specific E-waste recycler is utilized for all the electronic waste on campus

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:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
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.