University of Alberta
OP-21: Hazardous Waste Management

The university provides centrally-funded disposal options to campus. These include: - University departments using chemicals typically have central stores that manage many of the chemicals common to labs in the department. This allows for bulk purchasing, reducing duplicate purchases and individual lab storage volumes - The university has a Recycle Chemical Program that encourages labs to reduce their inventory by relinquishing surplus chemicals that are then made available to other labs on campus. The surplus chemical inventory is a searchable electronic database available to all labs registered in the database - Annual laboratory audits are conducted by the Chemical Hygiene group encouraging labs to maintain only a minimal chemical inventory - The university is currently focusing on the reduction of solvent waste through lab solvent recovery

The University of Alberta has operated a centrally-funded program to manage hazardous waste on all campuses for almost 40 years. The Hazardous Waste Program manages both hazardous and non-regulated waste, including chemical, radioisotope, and bio-hazardous waste as well as some hazardous recyclables such as paint and mercury. The Environmental Services group operates the program with three technicians and a supervisor. All the technicians are trained in biological, chemical and radiation safety, defensive driving and transportation of dangerous goods. Environmental Services maintains a webpage within the Environmental Health and Safety website providing information on management of hazardous waste. We also have an electronic waste tracking program that maintains an electronic record of both receipt and disposal of the hazardous materials. The chemical hazardous, non-regulated and select universal waste for disposal are collected on campus and transported under Transportation of Dangerous Goods Regulations to the transfer facility. At the facility, the waste is sorted and packed for transfer to a licenced hazardous waste disposal vendor. For example, solvents are bulked into two 10, 000 litre tanks from which the contents are sent out with a licenced hazardous waste disposal vendor as a recycle fuel. Acids and bases are neutralized and transferred to a licenced hazardous waste disposal vendor. Bio-hazardous waste is packaged by the generator for transport to our facility where it is stored under refrigeration until removed by a licenced waste disposal vendor. Radioactive waste is taken from the labs and stored at the waste facility until it has decayed to below the regulated disposal criteria.