| Overall Rating | Gold |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 66.09 |
| Liaison | Elizabeth Drake |
| Submission Date | March 3, 2023 |
Swarthmore College
OP-20: Hazardous Waste Management
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
1.00 / 1.00 |
Elizabeth
Drake Director of Sustainability Office of Sustainability |
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?:
A brief description of steps taken to reduce hazardous, special (e.g. coal ash), universal, and non-regulated chemical waste:
We are a small quantity hazardous waste generator. We have a licensed vendor that packages and ships all our hazardous and universal waste.
Faculty and staff are encouraged to replace materials with a less hazardous material, find another use for a material prior to disposal (sharing between labs), and recycling of materials such as oil and electronic waste.
A brief description of how the institution safely disposes of hazardous, universal, and non-regulated chemical waste:
Hazardous materials are collected at the point of generation, and labeled accordingly. Containers and labels are provided to the end user by EHS to ensure compatibility and compliance. Staff request to have waste collected, or bring the waste directly to a satellite accumulation area, where the EHS officer inspects it, dates it, sorts its, and stores it in in flammable or corrosive cabinets with a regulated hazardous waste room. Universal waste is collected with Facilities, EVS, and EHS. All universal waste is packed and transported to meet all regulatory requirements. General waste is handled by EVS. And Regulated Medical Waste is handled by EHS with monthly collection performed to met PADEP requirements.
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
Does the institution have or participate in a program to responsibly recycle, reuse, and/or refurbish electronic waste generated by the institution?:
Does the institution have or participate in a program to responsibly recycle, reuse, and/or refurbish electronic waste generated by students?:
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:
After many years of student projects working on the topic, in the 2022-23 AY, we are institutionalizing a campus-wide E-Waste collection program with local partner People Advancing Reintegration (PAR) Recycling Works. We are holding multiple collection events open to faculty, staff, and students. This expands and consolidates existing e-waste programs that operated within departments like Internet Technology Services (ITS) and Environmental Services.
Is the institution’s electronic waste recycler certified under the e-Stewards and/or Responsible Recycling (R2) standards?:
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:
For more information, contact Colleen Battista (cbattis1@swarthmore.edu)
For more information, contact Colleen Battista (cbattis1@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.