Stanford University
OP-20: Electronic Waste Recycling Program

Stanford University accepts proposals from various electronic waste recycling companies through a formal bid process. Each recycler is rated on a number of factors, including, but not limited to: environmental protection, financial stability, compliance with state and federal laws, price and level/quality of service. The top three candidates are audited and ultimately a recycler is chosen. Among requirements for being considered, a recycler must recycle all e-waste domestically, recycle 100% of the e-waste received (i.e. no landfill) and have the ability to provide verifiable records of recycling/destruction for each waste shipment. The recycler awarded the contract for recycling e-waste generated via University operations is given a fixed term contract to recycle all wastes. The contract is non-exclusive and if the recycler fails to meet the university's standards, Stanford reserves the right to switch vendors.

The University provides a number of options for insuring that all e-waste generated via business operations is recycled. The Property Management Office (PMO) instruct individuals responsible for each department's assets (and their disposal) how to properly request disposal of all electronic items.

For components (i.e.printers, monitors, computers, etc.), a given Department Property Administrator (DPA) initiates the disposal process by submitting an online disposal request form. PMO schedules and coordinates the pickup via the Surplus Property Store (SPS). SPS is a group within the PMO. SPS personnel pick up a given electronic item and assess its quality and condition for resale. If deemed "reusable" it is sold intact to university personnel and/or the public. If it is not deemed reusable, it is containerized for shipment to the designated recycler. These shipments occur weekly. PMO also coordinates e-waste dropoffs at campus cleanup events.

For smaller electronic items (i.e. cell phones, keyboards, circuit boards, etc.), Environmental Health & Safety (EH&S) has approximately 100 self-service dropoff locations throughout campus. These dropoff locations are serviced on a monthly basis and all e-waste collected is evaluated and sent to SPS for reuse or recycling. This program is described on the EH&S website.

For larger electronics (i.e. components), students are encouraged to deliver the items to Peninsula Sanitary Sevices (PSSI), the on-campus recycling center, waste collector, and hauler. PSSI is certified by the state as an e-waste collector.

For smaller items, Student Housing provides dropoff locations throughout the Housing complexes on campus. Students can also use the e-waste dropoff locations serviced by EH&S in the various research and teaching complexes on campus.

For abandoned items, EH&S and PSSI both have mechanisms in place to ensure that the items are properly recycled.

http://bgm.stanford.edu/pssi_faq_ewaste#proc-residents

The above URL references resources available for the disposal of small electronic items. Since large electronic items are considered University Property, each DPA is responsible for their department's assets. PMO trains these DPAs on proper e-waste disposal protocols.