| Overall Rating | Gold |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 73.33 |
| Liaison | Maria Dahmus |
| Submission Date | Nov. 30, 2023 |
University of St. Thomas
OP-20: Hazardous Waste Management
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
1.00 / 1.00 |
Joe
Klancher Director Environmental Health and Safety |
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:
The university has implemented a process to review all chemical purchases to assure chemicals (hazardous and non-hazardous) are purchased in usable quantities. We have maximum retention times for laboratory hazardous materials to encourage just in time ordering and reduce waste. The University communicates and the hazards associated with mercury containing items, and discourages purchasing those item unless necessary for research or health care purposes. Labs are inspected for mercury containing items to ensure proper disposal of any existing mercury and to prevent environmental releases. The majority of our universal wastes are diverted to recycling programs.
A brief description of how the institution safely disposes of hazardous, universal, and non-regulated chemical waste:
The university has a comprehensive program for the management, storage and disposal of hazardous, universal and non-regulated chemical waste. The program is managed by the university's environmental health and safety department. The program recently began a collaboration with the University of Minnesota to streamline our operations and better utilize electronic systems to identify and label hazardous waste streams.
A brief description of any significant hazardous material release incidents during the previous three years, including volume, impact and response/remediation:
None
A brief description of any inventory system employed by the institution to facilitate the reuse or redistribution of laboratory chemicals:
The university has a barcode-based records system for all laboratory chemicals that facilitates tracking and inter-laboratory trading of chemicals which helps minimize the quantity of materials ultimately needing disposal.
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:
There are dedicated recycling stations around the University of St. Thomas campus where electronic waste is collected for both student and employee generate e-waste. The main collection location for e-waste is located at the Waste and Recovery Area. Discarded waste is initially evaluated and when possible donated through our mission program. Other electronic waste is picked up by an outside vendor, Recycle Technologies Inc. to further reuse, recycle and dispose of electronic waste. Our vendor provides certificates of recycling. The university has an internal student/employee website dedicated to reuse, recycling and disposal and also provides communications about e-waste, reuse and recycling. Our vendor, Recycle Technologies, has an R2 certification.
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.