Overall Rating Bronze - expired
Overall Score 40.16
Liaison Jennifer Bodine
Submission Date April 23, 2015
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.0

Weber State University
OP-25: Hazardous Waste Management

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 0.75 / 1.00 Jennifer Bodine
Sustainability Specialist
Facilities Management
"---" 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:

Weber State University is working to reduce and eliminate hazardous waste. For example, in the Facilities Management Department, all paints have been switched over to water-based paints rather than using paints with VOCs. In general, Facilities Management is working to purchase products with little or no VOCs if there is a good substitute for traditionally purchased products.


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

Weber State University has an Environmental Health and Safety Department that is responsible for keeping track of and properly disposing of all hazardous materials. With regard to chemical disposal, the Environmental Health and Safety Department uses the state contractor, Clean Harbors, to dispose of those materials. Bio-hazardous materials are disposed of through MDS (Medical Disposal Systems, Inc.)


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

Over the past three years, WSU has had 7 very minor spills (1 quart or less) of either motor oil, machine oil, diesel fuel, or hydraulic oil. In all cases the response to the spill was to absorbant and rags to clean up the spill and dispose of the waste through Clean Harbors.

Only one significant incident occurred in November 2012. An Outside contractor put 1 gallon of left over chlorine into a 55 gal drum that contained sulfuric acid after servicing the campus pool chlorination system. This resulted in a response by 21 personnel (WSU and Off-campus responders); the chemical was isolated, contained, and a 300 ft perimeter was established. Internal temperatures were monitored. 2 WSU employees were sent for health exams (WorkMed) but no symptoms were present. Skyline Drive was closed for appox. 1.5 hours.


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

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?:
No

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

WSU's Property Control receives all e-waste and will first refurbish the material for reuse. If other University departments do not want the materials then they are put up for public sale. All items that cannot be reused are recycled through the state contractor.


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

Weber State University sends all e-waste for recycling to a certified state contractor.


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:
---

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.