Overall Rating Silver - expired
Overall Score 58.11
Liaison Elizabeth Drake
Submission Date April 19, 2017
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.1

Swarthmore College
OP-21: Hazardous Waste Management

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 0.75 / 1.00 Aurora Winslade
Director of Sustainability
Office of Sustainability
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Part 1 

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:
The Environmental Health & Safety Officer promotes a safe living, working, and learning environment for the College community with the help of Facilities Management, Human Resources, Public Safety, student Resident Advisors, as well as students, faculty, and staff. Environmental Health & Safety encompasses the following: -Environmental safety (indoor air quality, asbestos/lead paint abatement, and other safety issues) -Ergonomic assessments -Safety training for staff, faculty, and students -Personal protective equipment -Regulated waste disposal -Occupational Safety and Health (OSHA) compliance -Incident and insurance claims tracking Swarthmore recycles portions of its oil waste and e-waste. To do so it hires external professional businesses to collect these types of waste that the College collects.

A brief description of how the institution safely disposes of hazardous, universal, and non-regulated chemical waste:
For hazardous lab waste, including chemicals and solvents: a professional company, TIER, packs up hazardous equipment and removes during biannual hazardous waste collection. For used oil from campus fleet vehicles and electric transformers, Swarthmore collects the residue and stores it in large tanks for 1x/yr pick up. Oil filters from campus fleet vehicles are drained for twenty-four hours then the empty cans are then put in standard trash while these oils are stored in a tank, different from the aforementioned. Both tanks are collected by SafetyKleen. For batteries there are two collection points on campus where all students can place used batteries. TIER collects these batteries from the College. Car batteries are collected from collected by the College's main waste hauler, Jack-Clark.

A brief description of any significant hazardous material release incidents during the previous three years, including volume, impact and response/remediation:
None

A brief description of any inventory system employed by the institution to facilitate the reuse or redistribution of laboratory chemicals:
None

Part 2 

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?:
No

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:
Students who bring their computers to ITS to be fixed sometimes dispose of them. In that case ITS keeps the computer and recycles it along with the institutionally generated waste. Swarthmore does not specifically promote this service to students.

Is the institution’s electronic waste recycler certified under the e-Stewards and/or Responsible Recycling (R2) standards?:
Yes

Optional Fields 

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:
Rough estimates of e-waste generated in 2016: ~200 desktop computers (laptop or screen and computer), 48 switches, 240 wireless access points, 1 gateway, 1 firewall, 35 controllers (class walls), 35 switches, 38 touch panels, 1 40-in & 1 60-in LCD flat panel monitor, 9 printers (desktop), 12 bulbs, 13 video projectors, LPAC - 2 skids of stuff" For more information, contact Kelly Fitzpatrick (kfitzpa1@swarthmore.edu) and Virginia Schiffer (jschiff1@swarthmore.edu).

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.