| Overall Rating | Gold |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 66.74 |
| Liaison | Justin Owen |
| Submission Date | July 22, 2024 |
Weber State University
OP-20: Hazardous Waste Management
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
1.00 / 1.00 |
Jennifer
Bodine Sustainability Specialist Facilities Management |
Part 1. Hazardous waste minimization and disposal
A brief description of steps taken to reduce hazardous, special (e.g. coal ash), universal, and non-regulated chemical waste:
Weber State University has an Environmental Health & Safety Department that is responsible for ensuring that hazardous materials are documented, safely stored/used, and safely disposed of when they are no longer needed. WSU's EH&S Department is also regularly working with departments across campus to find ways to reduce or eliminate hazardous waste. For example, EH&S worked with the Facilities Management Department to transition the majority of the department's paints over to water-based paints rather than using paints with VOCs. In general, Facilities Management is working with EH&S to identify and purchase products with little or no VOCs if there is a good substitute for traditionally purchased products.
A brief description of how the institution safely disposes of hazardous, universal, and non-regulated chemical waste:
Weber State University has an Environmental Health and Safety Department that is responsible for keeping track of and properly disposing of all hazardous materials. With regard to chemical disposal, the Environmental Health and Safety Department uses the state contractor, Clean Harbors, to dispose of those materials. Bio-hazardous materials are disposed of through MDS (Medical Disposal Systems, Inc.)
A brief description of any significant hazardous material release incidents during the previous three years, including volume, impact and response/remediation:
Per WSU's Environmental Health & Safety Department, there have not been any significant hazardous material release incidents in the past three years.
A brief description of any inventory system employed by the institution to facilitate the reuse or redistribution of laboratory chemicals:
WSU currently does not have a chemical reuse or redistribution program.
Part 2. Electronic waste diversion
Does the institution have or participate in a program to responsibly recycle, reuse, and/or refurbish electronic waste generated by students?:
If yes to either of the above, provide:
1) WSU's Property Control receives all e-waste produced on campus and will first refurbish the material for reuse. If other University departments do not want the materials then they are put up for public sale. All items that cannot be reused are recycled through a state contract through CDW.
2) In April, 2024, WSU partnered with the Hogle Zoo for their "Gorillas on the Line" campaign to recycle small electronics such as cell phones, tablets, and headphones. There were boxes available at WSU Wildcat Stores for students, faculty, and staff to drop off their personal electronics throughout the month. The campaign was marketed to the campus community through the university-wide announcements, social media, emails, and physical flyers. *see attached flyer. This program has been very successful and we hope to continue the partnership on a year-round basis moving forward.
Is the institution’s electronic waste recycler certified under the e-Stewards and/or Responsible Recycling (R2) standards?:
Optional Fields
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.