| Overall Rating | Gold - expired |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 65.09 |
| Liaison | Jen Crothers |
| Submission Date | Aug. 2, 2011 |
| Executive Letter | Download |
University of British Columbia
OP-21: Hazardous Waste Management
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
1.00 / 1.00 |
Noga
Levit Senior Advisor (Environment & Chemical Safety) Risk Management Services |
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:
Risk Management Services is responsible for the Hazardous Waste Management Program at UBC, in accordance with UBC Policy #9, Hazardous Material Management. In this role, RMS trains laboratory personnel on detailed operating procedures for the safe disposal of hazardous materials.
Risk Management Services offers the following recycling services:
• Chemical exchange program
• Battery, oil, and paint recycling
• Silver recovery from photographic waste
• Acetone and methanol recycling
Source reduction is a key component of UBC's hazardous waste management program. In 2010, 90 UBC faculty, staff and lab personnel attended the 2010 Green Research Workshop (http://riskmanagement.ubc.ca/environment/green-research/green-research-workshop) to learn about hazardous materials substitution and source reduction, new opportunities in laboratory solid waste management and how to assess the energy consumption of laboratory equipment.
Risk Management Services also publishes and distributes the quarterly Green Research newsletter, which provide information, ideas and examples that will help UBC faculty and staff perform research activities in a safe and environmentally sustainable manner (http://riskmanagement.ubc.ca/environment/green-research/green-research-newsletter/). In addition, 800 new employees were trained in 2010 and written procedures were followed through the UBC Laboratory Pollution Prevention and Hazardous Waste Management Manual (http://www.riskmanagement.ubc.ca/sites/riskmanagement.ubc.ca/files/uploads/Documents/manual8709.pdf).
A brief description of how the institution safely disposes of hazardous, universal, and non-regulated chemical waste:
Risk Management Services coordinates the disposal of hazardous waste materials through the Environmental Services Facility. Here, laboratory wastes and hazardous materials generated by the University through research, academic and operational activities are consolidated, recycled, re-used, neutralized and/or disposed.
Hazardous waste minimization efforts in 2010 resulted in a 20% reduction in hazardous waste generation from the year before. Considerable source reduction was achieved in all of the main waste streams. The chemical waste, biohazard risk groups 1 and 2, solvents and pathological waste were reduced by 41%, 18%, 18% and 4% respectively. The pharmaceutical, biomedical, and sharps waste streams were reduced in 10%, 10% and 37% respectively.
Furthermore, active participation in all available recycling programs resulted in an additional waste reduction of approximately 10.5 tonnes and estimated costs savings of $28,312 in 2010:
• Acetone and Methanol Recycling - 2267 L of spent solvents were recycled and yielded 1257 L of purified acetone and methanol. This scientific grade material was returned to the research community for reuse.
• Chemical Exchange Program- 482 kg of different chemicals were exchanged in 117 transactions.
• Silver Recovery from Photographic Waste – 4,629 L of photographic waste was treated and the recovered silver was shipped to a commercial reclamation facility.
• Batteries Recycling –2927 kg of rechargeable, non-rechargeable and lead acid batteries were recycled through RBRC and Metalex from sources throughout the University.
• Oil recycling- 1255 L of oil were consolidated in ESF and shipped to an off-campus facility for recycling.
For more information on hazardous waste disposal and chemical conservation programs please, please visit: http://riskmanagement.ubc.ca/environment/hazardous-waste-management
The website URL where information about hazardous materials management is available:
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.