Overall Rating Silver - expired
Overall Score 58.86
Liaison Joseph Wasylycia-Leis
Submission Date March 3, 2015
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.0

University of Winnipeg
OP-25: Hazardous Waste Management

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 0.75 / 1.00 Alana Lajoie-O'Malley
Director
Campus 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:
At present, hazardous waste reduction and inventory management is the responsibility of individual departments, while hazardous waste disposal is managed by the University's Health and Safety Office. The most significant users of hazardous chemicals for academic purposes are the departments of Biology and Chemistry. Both departments have implemented several hazardous-waste reduction procedures and practices. These include: moving from macro to micro scale reactions in teaching labs, saving the chemicals produced in one lab to be used in others where possible, eliminating the use of formaldehyde for specimen preservation, taking efforts to substitute the use of especially toxic reagents with less toxic reagents when possible, purchasing chemicals in a manner that does not exceed anticipated needs, and designing teaching labs that minimize the use of hazardous materials.

A brief description of how the institution safely disposes of hazardous, universal, and non-regulated chemical waste:
Those with hazardous waste to dispose of reports it to the Lab Safety Officer. Employees are instructed not to move hazerdous waste. Disposals are scheduled throughout the year. The principal chemical disposals occur during the February "Reading Week" and again in August. Various companies are contacted to pick up and safely dispose of various waste materials, eg. Miller Environmental

A brief description of any significant hazardous material release incidents during the previous three years, including volume, impact and response/remediation:
Radioactive material during decommissioning of the main campus lab. Volume is unknown. The radioactive material was removed as hazardous waste.

A brief description of any inventory system employed by the institution to facilitate the reuse or redistribution of laboratory chemicals:
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Does the institution have or participate in a program to responsibly recycle, reuse, and/or refurbish all 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?:
No

A brief description of the electronic waste recycling program(s):
When there is e-wast to be disposed of, a staff member fills out an Asset Disposal Form and the product is sent to shipping and receiving. From there it is collected and dropped off at an e-waste recycling facility in the city.

A brief description of steps taken to ensure that e-waste is recycled responsibly, workers’ basic safety is protected, and environmental standards are met:
E-Waste is sent to a local recycler which is a member of the Canadian Association of Recycling Industries. Each member company of CARI commits to the following guiding principles: -Protecting people and the environment together with economic development: sustainable development. -Ensuring all employees understand and are able to fulfill their safety and environmental responsibilities. -Designing and operating operations based on the efficient use of energy, resources, and materials. -Complying with all legal requirements that affect its operations and products. -Refraining from making false or misleading statements about its products. -Working actively, directly or through the association, with governments and the public to develop equitable and attainable standards.

The website URL where information about the institution’s hazardous and electronic-waste recycling programs is available:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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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.