Overall Rating Gold - expired
Overall Score 70.10
Liaison Francis Mitalo
Submission Date March 5, 2021

STARS v2.2

University of California, Riverside
OP-20: Hazardous Waste Management

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 1.00 / 1.00 Fortino Morales
Sustainability Officer
Office of Sustainability
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Part 1. Hazardous waste minimization and disposal

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:
Safety Training
Our education and training program is a valuable tool in developing awareness of safety, health responsibilities and accident prevention. Everyone needs training at one time or another. Safety education and training is most effective when immediately incorporated into standard operating procedures, workplace practices, and individual job performance requirements.

Hazardous Waste Management Training:
Introduction to proper determination and management of hazardous waste. Topics include labeling, storing, treating, and disposal of hazardous waste. Discussion includes physically hazardous, chemical, biohazardous, radioactive, and mixed waste.

Copyright: 2009 Time: 32 min Type: eCourse (online training)

A brief description of how the institution safely disposes of hazardous, universal, and non-regulated chemical waste:
Waste management is the collection, transport, processing, recycling or disposal of waste materials. Our Waste Management program help the campus manage hazardous chemical, radioactive, medical and other wastes safely and legally. EH&S offers online Waste Pickup Services where you can request pickup of hazardous, biohazardous or radioactive waste. There is also a waste determination and waste disposal guide in the EH&S website, along with training, safety precautions, and other helpful information.

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:
UCR implemented a new ChemCycle Program. This program has been established to provide UC Riverside the opportunity to recycle unused and used (good condition) chemicals that would otherwise be disposed of as hazardous waste. All UCR researchers can donate useable surplus chemicals and obtain [recycled, unused chemicals, used but in good condition] for free. This opportunity saves money by reducing disposal costs and eliminating associated purchasing costs, and helps protect the environment by reducing the disposal burden of unwanted chemicals.

Part 2. Electronic waste diversion

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:
For campus equipment:
ScotSurplus is home to an eclectic assortment of used (but still useable) furniture, electronics, office supplies, clothing, books, bikes, lab supplies, and much more — collected from departments from every corner of the university.
More information: https://cbs.ucr.edu/scotsurplus

For lab researchers and staff:
Waste Accumulation Storage Tracking electronically or WASTe is a web based system that facilitates regulatory compliant labeling, tracking, collection and shipping of hazardous chemical, radioactive, and biohazardous wastes. The UC Risk & Safety Solutions application provides an interface between Principal Investigators, lab staff and other generators of regulated wastes and the UCR waste management staff. This quick and easy-to-use system allows users to create tags for hazardous chemical, radioactive, or biohazardous waste in less than one minute. WASTe supports creation of tags for five types of waste: Chemical, Mixed, Radiological, Biological, and Universal. Lab & Facility staff can share created tag profiles, and administrators can create profiles for a single lab or for all users on campus. The system notifies Environmental Health and Safety staff when waste is ready for pickup. WASTe will enable researches and staff to dispose of hazardous waste in accordance with all state and federal regulations.
More information: https://ehs.ucr.edu/waste#how_do_i_request_hazardous_waste_pick_up

For campus staff and students:
E-waste Recycling at Campus Business Services:
We are pleased to be able to offer complimentary Document Shredding and E-Waste Disposal programs for your convenience. And we offer several recycling programs, as well. Similarly, we can help you safely dispose of obsolete, broken and depleted electronics, used batteries, empty toner and ink cartridges, and other electronic waste — materials that should never be thrown in the trash.

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

Optional Fields 

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:
Data source from EH&S and Campus Business Services.

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.