Overall Rating Gold - expired
Overall Score 68.81
Liaison Christa Rieck
Submission Date Jan. 4, 2019
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.1

University of Houston
OP-21: Hazardous Waste Management

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 1.00 / 1.00
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Part 1 

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:
In order to prevent pollution and misallocation of valuable chemical stocks, Environmental Health and Life Safety has implemented a program to facilitate the use of otherwise unused chemicals. The ChemSwap program allows participants to submit requests for unused chemicals to be picked up in the same manner as their other hazardous waste for the convenience of the Principle Investigator or shop, and once picked up the chemicals are vetted and offered up to other participants for their use free of cost. The University of Houston also has a "no pour" policy and states that any materials from chem labs or other sources of waste must be collected by EHLS to gauge its risk before disposal.

A brief description of how the institution safely disposes of hazardous, universal, and non-regulated chemical waste:
Again, these materials are captured and processed through EHLS. These materials are also collected as part of the "ChemSwap" program and regulated by the "no pour" policy. The University also employs a hazardous waste facility that treats all labs as satellites and manages the safe disposal of these materials.

A brief description of any significant hazardous material release incidents during the previous three years, including volume, impact and response/remediation:
No incidents in the last three years.

A brief description of any inventory system employed by the institution to facilitate the reuse or redistribution of laboratory chemicals:
The ChemSwap program: "In order to prevent pollution and misallocation of valuable chemical stocks, EHLS has implemented a program to facilitate the use of otherwise unused chemicals. The ChemSwap program allows participants to submit requests for unused chemicals to be picked up in the same manner as their other hazardous waste for the convenience of the PI or shop, and once picked up the chemicals are vetted and offered up to other participants for their use free of cost. "

Part 2 

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:
Property management has a storage facility with all state owned property no longer needed or wanted by campus departments that includes a variety of property including all university owned electronics. UH has a contract with Bass Computer Recycling (R2 and TCEQ certified electronics recycler) to recycle all non-functioning equipment. Staff can visit property management to acquire electronics that are still operational, but that may have been moved there by a department that upgraded their electronics equipment. Additionally, the Office of Sustainability hosts an annual electronics recycling drive during the Spring semester open to all UH faculty, staff and students. The electronics can only be personal equipment; state-owned property must still be sent to Property Management.

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

Optional Fields 

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:
2.50 Tons

The website URL where information about the programs or initiatives is available:
http://www.uh.edu/ehs/manuals_and_forms/ecbs_ChemRecycleWasteMinProc012605.pdf

Additional documentation to support the submission:
---

Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
http://www.uh.edu/ehls/about/manuals/

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.