Southern Illinois University Carbondale
OP-21: Hazardous Waste Management

Annual training sessions are presented to about 1,000 employees who work with chemicals and biological agents, and half of the presentation is devoted to waste issues. We regularly advise users to substitute less hazardous reagents for hazardous chemicals, to purchase the smallest amount necessary, to share chemicals when possible, to reduce the volume and weight of chemicals and biological used to the smallest practical amount, and to consider treatment of products in compliance with the Resource Conservation Recovery Act to reduce waste. We consult with many of our 700 laboratories to minimize waste streams. Last year, we recycled about 10,000 pounds of spent lamps, over 5,000 gallons of used oil, and a large volume of batteries through the Center for Environmental Health and Safety. Over the years we have worked with our Dental Hygiene program to reduce the amount of biological waste generated by more than 97%. We provide users with information about “green” products as alternatives to using some hazardous chemical products, particularly in DNA analysis. We also provide users with information about changing from standard photographic development to digital imaging, to reduce the volume of spent developer and fix generated in our darkrooms.

Hazardous waste is collected from campus units, stored in our Central Accumulation Facility at CEHS, and disposed through several Treatment, Storage and Disposal contractors, primarily Tradebe, Inc. Universal waste is recycled through Tradebe, Air Cycle, and local oil recyclers. Nonregulated chemical waste is also sent offsite through Tradebe for recycling, where possible.