Overall Rating Gold - expired
Overall Score 68.18
Liaison Ezra Small
Submission Date Feb. 5, 2015
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.0

University of Massachusetts Amherst
OP-25: Hazardous Waste Management

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 1.00 / 1.00 Ezra Small
Sustainability Manager
Physical Plant
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

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?:
Yes

A brief description of steps taken to reduce hazardous, special (e.g. coal ash), universal, and non-regulated chemical waste:

The Chemical inventory system called CEMS (chemical environmental management system) is a reuse and exchange program to reduce the amount of hazardous, universal, and non-regulated chemical waste.

A universal waste-bulb crusher is used in the Waste Recovery Transfer Station, which extracts the mercury out of fluorescent bulbs.


A brief description of how the institution safely disposes of hazardous, universal, and non-regulated chemical waste:

The university complies with established regulations from the Mass Department Environmental Protection, MDEP (310cmr30), as well as regulations from the EPA (40cfr260, 40cfr262, 40cfr273)

The university has on site hazardous waste contractor (TSDF) who picks up and will either bulk or lab pack laboratory chemicals


A brief description of any significant hazardous material release incidents during the previous three years, including volume, impact and response/remediation:

The only reported hazardous material release incidents during the past three years have been construction related gas line leaks which were handled by EH&S, Utilities, and construction contractors.


A brief description of any inventory system employed by the institution to facilitate the reuse or redistribution of laboratory chemicals:

CEMS a web based program is used to barcode and inventory chemicals for reuse and exchange.


Does the institution have or participate in a program to responsibly recycle, reuse, and/or refurbish all electronic waste generated by the institution?:
Yes

Does the institution have or participate in a program to responsibly recycle, reuse, and/or refurbish electronic waste generated by students?:
Yes

A brief description of the electronic waste recycling program(s):

Faculty and staff can contact the Office of Waste Management by phone or email to have electronic waste picked up and disposed of. Some collection points are present in offices throughout campus to collect smaller types of electronic waste.


A brief description of steps taken to ensure that e-waste is recycled responsibly, workers’ basic safety is protected, and environmental standards are met:

All students, faculty and staff can call the office of Waste Management or go to the recycling facility to drop off and dispose of electronic waste.

All computers and electronic products on campus are barcoded and registered with the Office of Information and Technology. If the item can not be reused or refurbished the Office of Waste Management is contacted.

The Office of Waste Management contracts with RMG Enterprise Inc. from New Hampshire to dispose of the electronic waste in a safe and professional way.


The website URL where information about the institution’s hazardous and electronic-waste recycling programs is available:
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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