| Overall Rating | Gold |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 68.02 |
| Liaison | Maxine Dandois-Fafard |
| Submission Date | Nov. 10, 2023 |
Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique (INRS)
OP-20: Hazardous Waste Management
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
1.00 / 1.00 |
Olivier
Picard Director, material resources department Administration |
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:
Awareness among staff, particularly research teams, to limit their orders to the required quantities is established at INRS to prevent the waste of unused and expired products.
A brief description of how the institution safely disposes of hazardous, universal, and non-regulated chemical waste:
'- Hazardous waste generated by INRS activities is collected and handed over to an external company for disposal/destruction. Staff ensures that the supplier is recognized by the Ministry of the Environment, Climate Change, Wildlife, and Parks or an equivalent organization.
- When possible, some hazardous waste (e.g., biohazards, radioactive substances) is treated locally (autoclaving of biological agents and radioactive substance decay).
- Relevant staff and students are informed of the procedure for preparing and disposing of waste during various health and safety training sessions.
- Waste is transported externally from the INRS site between 1 and 5 times per year, depending on the site.
A brief description of any significant hazardous material release incidents during the previous three years, including volume, impact and response/remediation:
No significant incidents have occurred in recent years.
A brief description of any inventory system employed by the institution to facilitate the reuse or redistribution of laboratory chemicals:
Excess products are offered to new research teams, among other options. There is no specific inventory system for this process.
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:
INRS has recently implemented a recycling process for its old and obsolete equipment that can no longer be used. An important aspect for INRS is the secure destruction of data on these devices. The IT team collects both employees and students outdated workstations and servers by issuing an email to the INRS community twice a year.
Furthermore, every site has a used electronics a drop-off site, generally at the unloading dock. The information about the drop-off sites can be found both in the employee Intranet site and the student welcoming guides. The Quebec City downtown site also has an e-waste recycling smartbin in its lobby, open to all (INRS and local community).
An electromechanical technician works on the Laval Campus and can first try to repair electronics before recycling them. Additionally, the IT department is trained to repair electronics and repurpose them for research teams.
As a general rule, the equipment sent for recycling has been used throughout its useful life.
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.