Thompson Rivers University
OP-21: Hazardous Waste Management

TRU Occupational Health and Safety is responsible for disposing of hazardous, universal and non-regulated chemical waste.
http://www.tru.ca/hsafety.html

TRU HAZARDOUS WASTE MANAGEMENT PROCEDURE

Regarding the disposal of hazardous waste; the following procedure will be implemented immediately!

1] There will be only two pickups of chemical waste per year, one in the month of May and the other in December.

2] Hazardous waste will be picked up from your designated location/s as entered on a Hazardous Waste Disposal Form.

3] Details of the waste to be entered are as follows:
• Chemical name
• Quantity of waste
• Size and type of container
• Physical state of the waste: solid, liquid, gas or powder

4] Hazardous Waste Disposal Forms must be received by S&EM no later than April 30 and November 30, otherwise they will not be included in the pickup schedule the following month.

5] S&EM will make the call for pickup to the waste contractor/s.

6] Prior to pick up date, Safety & Emergency Management (S&EM) will come into the location with the waste chemicals and organize all the waste in accordance with Canadian Transportation of Dangerous Goods designations.

7] Waste contractors will place all chemical waste into either drums or buckets and then sealand label as to the hazard level by TDG.

8] Waste contractor will then complete all designated paperwork on all the hazardous chemical waste and arrange delivery for disposal.

There has been no significant hazardous materials release incidents during the previous three years.

There is no policy set in place to facilitate the reuse or redistribution of laboratory chemicals, however, laboratory professors use best practices to ensure chemicals are properly recycled through a third-party company. To minimize waste, TRU lab instructors are encouraged to only prepare the amount of chemicals needed for each class. Some classes will use the same chemical for a variety of labs so it can be redistributed if there is any leftover from a prior class.

TRU has several programs for students and staff to responsibly recycle, reuse, and/or refurbish electronic waste.
Used batteries are collected in 17 designated battery collection bins located in all main buildings (and some secondary buildings) throughout the campus. These go to a third-party organization in Kamloops (Battery Direct), which undertakes proper shipment and recycling of batteries. Any student or staff member can access these battery bins.
Smaller electronics (like cell phones, laptops, iPads, etc.) can be taken by any student or staff member to designated recycling bins in the Campus Activity Centre or Student Street in Old Main, or be taken to the TRU Warehouse. They are then picked up by the non-profit organization Electronic Recycling Association (https://www.era.ca/) to be either refurbished for reuse or striped of all usable parts, then responsibly recycled or disposed of.
All big electronics can be brought by staff to the Warehouse either to be recycled, reused, and/or refurbished. Reuse or items is the preferred method and these items are put up for auction on the site BCBid (https://www.bcbid.gov.bc.ca/open.dll/welcome?language=En). If no one buys them then recycling and/or refurbishing of the items is done by the organization Electronic Recycling Association (https://www.era.ca/). Electronic items include IT equipment, like computers and monitors, as well as virtually anything with a cord (besides large kitchen appliances, like fridges, stoves, or other large and heavy items).

The Electronic Recycling Association is ISO 9001:2008 certified.

Another website with information pertaining to these issues:
http://www.tru.ca/sustain/people/ZeroWaste.html