Overall Rating Gold - expired
Overall Score 67.00
Liaison Ken Foster
Submission Date March 15, 2018
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.1

Vassar College
OP-21: Hazardous Waste Management

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 1.00 / 1.00 James Kelly
Director of Environmental Health and Safety
Buidings and Grounds Services
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Part 1 

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:
As required by New York State law, Vassar College regulates and safely disposes its hazardous waste. The College seeks to minimize the presence of hazardous materials, on campus especially in chemistry and biology laboratories. The waste management plan covers all aspects of hazardous material use including: Minimization of waste, proper storage and handling of waste, and proper disposal of waste. The plan also designates chemical hygiene officers in each department to act as liaisons with the Environmental Health and Safety officer.

A brief description of how the institution safely disposes of hazardous, universal, and non-regulated chemical waste:
Materials collected at designated central locations in buildings that use chemicals are removed and disposed of by contractor.

A brief description of any significant hazardous material release incidents during the previous three years, including volume, impact and response/remediation:
None released.

A brief description of any inventory system employed by the institution to facilitate the reuse or redistribution of laboratory chemicals:
Vassar uses the Vertere chemical inventory system. All chemicals that are purchased in Biology, Chemistry, Psychology, Earth Science, and the Field Station should be entered into the system upon arrival at Vassar. The chemicals are all inventoried once per year. Through this system, one is able to check and see if a chemical is available in any of these locations. Anyone in any department can get access to this inventory online at the web interface for Vertere, or they can contact a department technician to find a chemical for them on campus.

Part 2 

Does the institution have or participate in a program to responsibly recycle, reuse, and/or refurbish 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?:
Yes

If yes to either of the above, provide:

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:
Apple program for computer exchange.

Is the institution’s electronic waste recycler certified under the e-Stewards and/or Responsible Recycling (R2) standards?:
Yes

Optional Fields 

Electronic waste recycled or otherwise diverted from the landfill or incinerator during the most recent year for which data is available during the previous three years:
---

The website URL where information about the programs or initiatives is available:
http://www.call2recycle.org/

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.