University of Colorado Boulder
OP-20: Hazardous Waste Management

The Environmental Health & Safety Department (EH&S) provides training to all hazardous waste generators on campus. This training includes methods and recommendations of ways to reduce hazardous wastes. EH&S operates a chemical treatment center that treats all photographic wastes, certain corrosive wastes, and low level organic aqueous wastes from campus operations to reduce the impact and toxicity of these wastes upon their eventual disposal. EH&S also coordinates an ethanol re-use program on campus where spent ethanol from atmospheric research cold traps is collected and transported to a cell culture facilty where it is re-used as a disinfectant. The Chemistry Department and EH&S operate 2 fractional distillation units where spent solvents used in research is distilled and then reused.

The Environmental Health & Safety Department (EH&S) operates a state-permitted waste Treatment Storage and Disposal Facility. This facility allows EH&S to reduce materials used in packaging wastes for transportation and increase efficiency in disposal of wastes collected from campus operations. Waste disposal requests from campus personnel are carefully evaluated and classified based on compatibility, transportation regulations, and hazardous waste disposal requirements. Wastes are either consolidated with other similar wastes or lab packed before being sent for off site disposal to EPA-permitted facilities.

There were no significant hazardous material releases during the past 3 years.

EH&S maintains a chemical inventory database for campus laboratories however functionality to use the database for reuse or redistribution of laboratory chemicals has not been integrated into the system yet. When large cleanouts occur in laboratories, useable chemicals are offered to other laboratories in the same department before disposal occurs. EH&S also redistributes certain commonly used chemicals during laboratory cleanouts when a known need for a particular chemical exists in another laboratory.

Electronic wastes are collected by the CU Property Services Department. The value of each electronic device is assessed, and a decision is made whether the device will be resold to the public or to the campus, or if it will be sent for recycling. Devices destined for recycling are disassembled by CU personnel down to their component parts and then segregated by type to regain the best value for the university. The recycler is called when there is sufficient volume to justify a pickup of electronic waste.