Overall Rating Gold - expired
Overall Score 68.22
Liaison Mary Ellen Mallia
Submission Date Dec. 21, 2018
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.1

University at Albany
OP-21: Hazardous Waste Management

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 1.00 / 1.00 Lisa Donohue
Director of Environmental Health and Safety
EHS
"---" 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:
All materials deemed hazardous, such as those in chemistry and biology labs, must be registered and approved before they are allowed on campus in an effort to reduce the amount of hazardous materials on campus and also prevent the spread of unknown materials.

A brief description of how the institution safely disposes of hazardous, universal, and non-regulated chemical waste:
The two following links provide information on the university's hazardous waste and recycling policies. Included are mercury containing lights and lamps, batteries, laboratory supplies,electronics, and pesticides. https://www.albany.edu/ehs/Hazardouswaste.shtml https://www.albany.edu/ehs/pdf/CHEMICALHYGIENE17.pdf

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:
UAlbany does not have an inventory system for the reuse or redistribution of laboratory chemicals. Reuse and Redistribution does occur but it is more informal between researchers and labs. A chemical morgue was experimented with in the past but researchers did not want to use another lab's chemicals for fear of contaminating their research. Most of the chemicals in the morgue were discarded as hazardous waste.

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?:
Yes

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:
-If a state-owned electronic is being discarded by an Office, it must first be inspected by the Office of Equipment Management. It will be determined if the item is eligible for the state surplus auction. If not, then the items will be tagged as "waste" and will be able to be recycled. All electronics are brought to a centralized location each month by the facilities staff. It is then wrapped and delivered to the recycling facility near the campus. Electronics recycling is included in our hazardous waste policy. -The Office of Environmental Sustainability sponsors an electronics recycling day annually on campus. Faculty, staff and students bring personal electronics and appliances to be recycled by a company brought in. -There are several recycling stations set up for ink jets and toners throughout the year and student workers in the office collect these items monthly. Through the Office of Environmental Sustainability, students can arrange to have electronics or appliances recycled by the facilities staff. -During student move-out, the Office of Environmental Sustainability places PODS at each quad for students to donate/recycle used electronics and appliances that they no longer need.

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:
38 Tons

The website URL where information about the programs or initiatives is available:
http://www.albany.edu/ehs/Hazardouswaste.shtml

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.