Overall Rating Gold - expired
Overall Score 66.35
Liaison Trevor Ledbetter
Submission Date May 2, 2017
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.1

University of Arizona
OP-21: Hazardous Waste Management

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 1.00 / 1.00 Benjamin Champion
N/A
Office of Sustainability
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

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 University of Arizona, through its Risk Management and Safety unit reduces hazardous, universal and non-regulated chemical waste in several ways. The first is that Risk Management posts clear disposal procedures on its website accounting for hazardous and nonhazardous materials.

Through the UA Surplus Property Office, older electrical items are sold to the public or transferred within the University for reuse as opposed to dumping the equipment in the trash.


A brief description of how the institution safely disposes of hazardous, universal, and non-regulated chemical waste:

Risk Management and Safety have created several systems for dealing with waste generated by the UA community. First is that hazardous material both chemical and biological are disposed of in special bins across campus. These bins are then periodically taken away and replaced with new clean bins. The procedure states that employees or responsible individuals must write the name of the substance that is being discarded so that it is disposed of correctly. Secondly, employees are told to contact Risk Management when they need chemicals or glass items disposed of so that Risk Management can take the waste away as soon as possible.

The chemicals and substances that Risk Management and Safety is in charge of, but is not limited to, are ethidium bromide, heavy metals, glass, biological waste, control substances, and sharp objects.


A brief description of any significant hazardous material release incidents during the previous three years, including volume, impact and response/remediation:

No significant breaches that would have occurred during the 2016 data collection period.


A brief description of any inventory system employed by the institution to facilitate the reuse or redistribution of laboratory chemicals:

The department of Risk Management and Safety (RMS) manages a chemical redistribution clearinghouse for UA laboratories and researchers. The program is a first come, first serve system in which interested parties request a needed chemical and RMS delivers it to the party free of charge.


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

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:

Electronic waste generated by the University of Arizona is handled by the Surplus Property Office. The Surplus Property Office sells equipment no longer being used by one department or unit to another either in whole or for parts. If the item is not sold within the University, items are put to auction to the public.


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

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:

This data was originally compiled when UA submitted its first AASHE STARS Report in 2012. These programs and policies remain in place as of February 2016.


This data was originally compiled when UA submitted its first AASHE STARS Report in 2012. These programs and policies remain in place as of February 2016.

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.