| Overall Rating | Silver |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 45.93 |
| Liaison | Gabrielle Jette |
| Submission Date | April 13, 2022 |
The Catholic University of America
OP-20: Hazardous Waste Management
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
0.50 / 1.00 |
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:
Yes, please refer to the EHS Manual (Chapter 5).
https://facilities.catholic.edu/ehs/ehs-manual/table-of-contents.html
A brief description of how the institution safely disposes of hazardous, universal, and non-regulated chemical waste:
Yes, please refer to the EHS Manual (Chapter 5).
https://facilities.catholic.edu/ehs/ehs-manual/table-of-contents.html
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:
All chemical users update their chemical inventory yearly to the EHS department.
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:
The University strives to route all equipment with electronics through a process to divert them from landfills. This diversion can be accomplished in several ways, which results in lowering the cost to buy new equipment, maximizing the revenue from sales and reducing the cost by lowering the frequency of bulk trash collection containers being emptied.
All hazardous materials are first removed by the University's Chemical Hygiene Officer and/or Radiation Safety Officer before the equipment is moved from its current location. Then, any equipment smaller than a full-sized refrigerator is moved to one of two collection points for further evaluation. Such evaluation shall include a combination of partial disassembly and at least one full start-up cycle. Larger equipment is fully evaluated in its current location prior to being moved for re-use or permanent disposal.
If the equipment is found to be reliable, safe and able to be supported by appropriate University services, a notice is sent to the Academic Vice President's office seeking any interested departments. If the equipment isn't supported, but otherwise reliable and safe, it is sold to any interested party and permanently removed from campus, with a signed General Counsel-approved release.
If the equipment isn't safe or reliable, it is first cannabalized for useful and/or regulatory-required components then shrink-wrapped to a pallet or large shipping container. Regulatory components are placed in a designated area for processing by the University Chemical Hygiene Officer.
The University contracts to a vendor to remove all palletized electronics approximately 2-3 times per year, depending on the volume of equipment turned in. The vendor is required to recycle 100% of the shipment including the pallet and shrink-wrap, since there is a no-landfill clause. The vendor reports a total weight recycled for each shipment. The University Asset Manager annually reports these weights to the University's Director for the Office of Campus Sustainability.
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:
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.