| Overall Rating | Gold |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 67.49 |
| Liaison | Elizabeth Swiman |
| Submission Date | March 15, 2023 |
Florida State University
OP-20: Hazardous Waste Management
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
1.00 / 1.00 |
Renee
Murray Chemical Safety Officer EH&S |
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:
By law, the University is required to strive to reduce the amount of hazardous waste it generates; therefore, University personnel are directed to take the following measures:
• Buy only those amounts of hazardous materials which can be used before the expiration date of the material.
• Use up the hazardous material completely for the purpose for which it is intended.
• When finished with a stable and uncontaminated product, determine if someone else in the department has a legitimate need for, and can use, the product.
A brief description of how the institution safely disposes of hazardous, universal, and non-regulated chemical waste:
RCRA hazardous and select non-regulated wastes are handled by first ensuring that all personnel who may use chemical products which may become hazardous wastes are trained on proper hazardous waste collection and storage annually. Suitable waste collection containers are provided, free of charge by Environmental Health & Safety (EH&S), as needed. These containers are labeled, kept closed when not in use, and located in designated areas near the point of generation. When finished with the containers or containers reach ¾ full, EH&S picks up and moves containers to a central storage facility to be logged into a database, placed in secondary containment, and segregated for eventual off-site shipment. Every 90 days a hazardous waste shipment is scheduled. EH&S has a contract with EPA licensed contractor who packages, transports and arranges for disposal of the RCRA and non-regulated waste generated by FSU., EH&S manages all hazardous waste manifest for at least 3 years along with copies of all other generated paperwork from waste shipments.
Universal wastes are managed in accordance with EPA regulations on the storage and disposal of universal wastes. The University has a contract with Universal Waste vendor that arranges for the transportation and recycling of the waste. Universal waste manifest are kept for at least 3 years. Waste lead acid batteries and used oil is managed at the local level. These items are either taken directly to a recycling location or a local used oil handler arranges for pick up of the oil. All paperwork generated is kept for at least 3 years.
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:
None, the University has been investigating RFID or scanner labeling of all incoming products to be able to perform periodic chemical inventories in a safe manner with minimal handling. The hardware and software is available and the cost is expensive but not prohibitive. The main reason for not adopting implementing this program is the lack of a centralized receiving point for these products and the inability to control new materials entering campus. Remedies to this are actively being pursued as part of our chemical procurement contract renegotiation.
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:
When electronics become obsolete, uneconomical, or inefficient, FSU departments may request the property be classified as surplus and recycled. The Surplus Property Division handles the e-waste recycling program at FSU and regularly picks-up IT equipment, including but not limited to: computers, hard drives, cell phones, copiers, laptops, tablets and scanners. These items are sorted, divided into categories, and prepped for shipment to the e-Waste Recycler. For security reasons, IT assets that are classified as surplus are not eligible for transfer back into the university. After a full truckload has accumulated it is picked by the e-waste recycler. FSU’s E-waste provider is an R2 (Responsible Recycling) certified provider that also complies with ISO 14001:2004 and OHSAS 18001:2007 certifications.
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.