University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
OP-21: Hazardous Waste Management

Waste reduction strategies include: Product Substitution, Process Modification, Segregation and Characterization, Reclamation, Neutralization, Deactivation Training and Awareness (see http://www.dehs.umn.edu/hazwaste_chemwaste_umn_cwmgbk_sec7.htm). Specific items include micro-scale teaching laboratories, biodegradables in place of flammable scintillation fluids, green cleaning chemicals, solvent recycling in two histology labs, formalin recycling in one anatomy lab, silver recovery from photo fixer, and the installation of longer lasting T5 fluorescent lamps in many buildings. See also chemical recycling program below.

Thousands of laboratory personnel and hundreds of Facilities Management personnel are trained in proper storage and collection procedures for hazardous chemical waste. The guidebook (see website below) lays out the procedures for storing and collecting the waste. All chemical waste is reviewed, evaluated, manifested and transported to the Thompson Center, a fully permitted Part B Storage Facility on the east end of the Minneapolis Campus. It manages over 500,000 lbs of hazardous and universal waste each year. The chemicals then are reused, reclaimed, and mostly repackaged for off-site shipment to fully audited facilities, which in turn reuse the waste as fuel, incinerate the higher hazard wastes, or treat the waste to reduce the hazards, with a small amount of treated residues sent to landfills. For Universal Wastes, over 150,000 lamps per year are sent for recycling; all batteries are collected and sorted so that rechargeables are recycled and the hazardous batteries properly disposed.