Overall Rating Gold
Overall Score 83.37
Liaison Ruairi O'Mahony
Submission Date Feb. 11, 2022

STARS v2.2

University of Massachusetts Lowell
OP-20: Hazardous Waste Management

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 1.00 / 1.00 Nicole Kelly
Sustainability Coordinator
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 UMass Lowell Environmental Health and Safety Department coordinates health and safety programs for UMass Lowell students, faculty members and employees to ensure that safe and effective policies and procedures are followed. The department features a robust and rigorous hazardous and universal waste management program to mitigate and respond to accidents and emergencies within the scope of biological, chemical, radiation, environmental, and fire safety. In addition, the Environmental Health and Safety Department offers a number of trainings to students, faculty, and staff including lab safety training, silica hazard awareness training, laser safety training. radiation safety training, bloodborne pathogen/biosafety training, hazardous waste management training, and fire extinguisher training.

https://www.uml.edu/EEM/EHS/policies-procedures.aspx


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

UMass Lowell closely monitors the shipping, receiving, and disposal of all hazardous materials, universal waste, and non-regulated chemicals to comply with MassDEP and US EPA regulations. UMass Lowell coordinates with certified vendors and consultants to properly handle, decontaminate, and dispose of materials. Triumvirate Environmental assists with environmental operations and conducts weekly inspections of satellite accumulation areas.


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

No, there were not any significant hazardous material release incidents during the previous three years. UMass Lowell's emergency management division employs highly trained staff members to be a part of the emergency response task force who are available 24/7 in case of emergency. The emergency task force is responsible for providing immediate response to hazardous material spills in addition to fires, power loss, suspicious or violent acts, bomb threats, and severe weather.

https://www.uml.edu/EEM/Emergency-Management/Emergency-response.aspx


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

The Environmental Health & Safety (EHS) Department operates a Hazardous Materials Chemical Receiving Stockroom for all laboratory chemicals on campus. Faculty and staff use a requisition and purchase order Software called Buyways for ordering all chemicals. EHS staff review and approval these requests. Upon approval a purchase order is created and dispatched to the chemical distributor. Materials are shipped to the Hazardous Materials Chemical Receiving Stockroom and received by EHS staff. EHS staff collect information and enter it into an on-line database called Vertere. Each material is assigned a bar code and tag. The materials are then delivered to the labs by EHS staff.

During the process of reviewing faculty and staff chemical requisitions our EHS staff cross references the Vertere on-line chemical inventory to promote re-use of unwanted or excess chemicals on campus. EHS also acquires chemicals during lab clean-outs. These materials are offered for re-use during the review of chemical requisitions when someone is trying to purchase a material that is on hand.


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:

UMass Lowell features collection bins throughout university for cell phone & handheld devices, small electronics, and batteries. The collection bins are made of 100% recycled material and are monitored and maintained regularly. UMass Lowell student sustainability Eco Reps pick up mixed electronics including decommissioned lab equipment and computer accessories upon request. All mixed electronics are recycled through UMass Lowell's approved and certified electronic waste recycler: PC Survivors of Massachusetts.


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

Website URL where information about the institution’s hazardous waste program is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
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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.