University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
OP-21: Hazardous Waste Management

As a generator of hazardous chemical waste, UNC Chapel Hill has an obligation under federal and state regulations, and to the community, to reduce the volume and quantity of hazardous, universal, and non-regulated wastes generated on campus. This is accomplished, in part, through the Waste Minimization Program which is actively managed by the EHS Environmental Affairs group. A specific example of the University’s waste reduction efforts is the recycling of 9,765 gallons (equivalent to 31,765 kg) of non-halogenated solvents through fuels blending operations. Other examples include the elimination of non-essential uses of elemental mercury throughout the UNC Chapel Hill campus on 31 December 2009. Stemming from a general recognition of the environmental and human exposure-related threats posed by mercury, the non-essential uses ban is complemented by an active mercury-containing devices exchange program. Over the past three years, UNC Chapel Hill has invested approximately $10,000 per year to exchange mercury-containing devices such as thermometers from research and laboratories throughout campus. Other examples include robust recycling programs for fluorescent lighting (12,914 kg recycled in 2010), non-polychlorinated biphenyls containing ballasts and lead (8,465 kg and 982 kg, respectively, recycled in 2010), lead-acid batteries (4,250 kg recycled in 2010), miscellaneous batteries from dormitories (1,265 kg recycled in 2010), and used oil (650 gall recycled in 2010).

The EHS Environmental Affairs group manages the Hazardous Materials Facility (HMF) which is the central accumulation area of all hazardous waste from the campus points of generation which include teaching and research laboratories, maintenance and facility service activities, a Cogeneration facility, the Horace Williams airport, and the Finley golf course. Waste is managed by trained personnel from the EHS Environmental Affairs group under a federal Part B hazardous waste management permit (permit number NCD 982093783). EHS offers training classes, on-line waste management and pick-up tutorials, as well as publicly available resources to assist personnel within generating areas to properly manage their wastes. Hazardous materials are typically managed through an on-line registration and management system designed to streamline documentation requirements and more efficiently track waste streams from point of generation to recycling/disposal. Wherever possible, and consistent with its Waste Minimization Program, UNC Chapel Hill endeavors to recycle waste streams including batteries, circuit boards, light ballasts, computer equipment, film, film fixer, lead solder, silver solder, mercury, and dental amalgam.