| Overall Rating | Gold |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 65.84 |
| Liaison | Morgan Hartman |
| Submission Date | Dec. 12, 2022 |
University of Nebraska - Lincoln
OP-20: Hazardous Waste Management
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
1.00 / 1.00 |
Morgan
Hartman Recycling Coordinator FMO |
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?:
A brief description of steps taken to reduce hazardous, special (e.g. coal ash), universal, and non-regulated chemical waste:
Hazardous waste – EHS consolidates many of the hazardous waste streams to save on volume and costs. Numerous Halogenated and non-halogenated solvent wastes from laboratories are received in 4-liter glass bottles or 20-liter cans. These can be bulked into 55-gallon drums based on chemical compatibility. Aerosol cans are punctured, waste liquids are collected, and the remaining metal is recycled. Departments at UNL try to reduce hazardous waste by using less hazardous chemicals during routine activities whenever possible.
Special waste – EHS makes proper waste determinations that keep some waste streams from being shipped as a hazardous waste. Many of these items fall into the special waste categories. Landscape Services keeps all of the wood from trees, leaves, grass clippings, etc., to utilize for mulch for use on campus as opposed to taking it offsite for disposal. The power plants update equipment and control technologies to be good stewards to the environment. No coal is burned at the power plants and therefore there is no coal ash disposal in the landfill.
Universal waste – EHS provides collection containers for numerous universal waste streams and collects them regularly (e.g., high mercury fluorescent lamps, HID lamps, LEDs, batteries, smoke detectors). UNL has re-lamping projects that change-out old ballasts and lamps to replace with more efficient and less hazardous components. All of these items are recycled through outside vendors.
Non-regulated chemical waste – many of these materials are considered non-hazardous, but are still considered regulated in some way. Many of the laboratory chemicals are still shipped through our waste vendor to keep these items out of the landfill. Our used oil, oil filters, and antifreeze is shipped with a vendor for recycling.
A brief description of how the institution safely disposes of hazardous, universal, and non-regulated chemical waste:
Wastes that are picked up by EHS are stored in secure areas with limited access. The waste vendors are chosen based on performance and industry reputation.
A brief description of any significant hazardous material release incidents during the previous three years, including volume, impact and response/remediation:
None reported.
A brief description of any inventory system employed by the institution to facilitate the reuse or redistribution of laboratory chemicals:
Each department is responsible for redistributing and reusing any chemicals that are still considered useful products. If EHS receives requests to do large lab clean-outs of chemicals, any usable chemicals are segregated out for reuse by the department or EHS.
Does the institution have or participate in a program to responsibly recycle, reuse, and/or refurbish electronic waste generated by the institution?:
Does the institution have or participate in a program to responsibly recycle, reuse, and/or refurbish electronic waste generated by students?:
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:
All UNL electronics are collected and sorted by Inventory Services and/or EHS. Any items that have resell value are offered for sale at public auctions through Inventory Services. Items that do not have resell value or fail to sell at auction are containerized and delivered to EHS for indoor storage in the EHS Warehouse. All of these UNL and student containers of electronic waste are recycled through Apple, Inc for no cost to UNL.
Is the institution’s electronic waste recycler certified under the e-Stewards and/or Responsible Recycling (R2) standards?:
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:
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.