| Overall Rating | Silver |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 54.78 |
| Liaison | Christa Rieck |
| Submission Date | Jan. 3, 2024 |
University of Houston
OP-20: Hazardous Waste Management
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
1.00 / 1.00 |
Elizabeth
Clark Sustainability Coordinator Facilities Planning |
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:
In order to prevent pollution and misallocation of valuable chemical stocks, Environmental Health and Safety has implemented a program to facilitate the use of otherwise unused chemicals. The ChemSwap program allows participants to submit requests for unused chemicals to be picked up in the same manner as their other hazardous waste for the convenience of the Principle Investigator or shop, and once picked up the chemicals are vetted and offered up to other participants for their use free of cost.
The University of Houston also has a requirement that any materials from labs or other sources of waste must be evaluated by EHS to gauge its risk before disposal.
A brief description of how the institution safely disposes of hazardous, universal, and non-regulated chemical waste:
Again, these materials are captured and processed through EHS. These materials are also collected as part of the "ChemSwap" program and regulated by the regulated waste manual. The University also employs a hazardous waste facility that treats all labs as satellites and manages the safe disposal of these materials through permitted third party vendors.
A brief description of any significant hazardous material release incidents during the previous three years, including volume, impact and response/remediation:
A 500-gallon release of diesel fuel from a fuel tank for emergency generators, to a stormwater lift station was safely contained on-site in February, 2023. A 20-gallon release of used oil from an oil-water separator was released to a stormwater lift station and was remediated on site in August, 2023. No other reportable incidents occurred.
A brief description of any inventory system employed by the institution to facilitate the reuse or redistribution of laboratory chemicals:
The ChemSwap program: "In order to prevent pollution and misallocation of valuable chemical stocks, EHS has implemented a program to facilitate the use of otherwise unused chemicals. The ChemSwap program allows participants to submit requests for unused chemicals to be picked up in the same manner as their other hazardous waste for the convenience of the PI or shop, and once picked up the chemicals are vetted and offered up to other participants for their use free of cost. EHS has also implemented an online chemical inventory database through a third party vendor that tracks laboratory and shop chemical inventories that is used to determine potential users for unused commercial chemical products.
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:
Property management has a storage facility with all state owned property no longer needed or wanted by campus departments that includes a variety of property including all university owned electronics. UH has a contract with Bass Computer Recycling (R2 and TCEQ certified electronics recycler) to recycle all non-functioning equipment. Staff can visit property management to acquire electronics that are still operational, but that may have been moved there by a department that upgraded their electronics equipment.
Additionally, the Office of Sustainability hosts an annual electronics recycling drive during the Spring semester open to all UH faculty, staff and students. The electronics can only be personal equipment; state-owned property must still be sent to Property Management.
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.