Overall Rating Silver
Overall Score 55.77
Liaison Susan Kaspari
Submission Date July 16, 2022

STARS v2.2

Central Washington University
OP-20: Hazardous Waste Management

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 1.00 / 1.00 Susan Kaspari
Professor
Geological Sciences
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Part 1. Hazardous waste minimization and disposal

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:
CWU purchased a new Chemical Inventory Management System (CHIMS)that tracks all chemicals and unused waste for reuse/buyback by other departments throughout the university to help reduce quantities of used or unused waste. CWU currently uses a new (BUY Only What You Need) program, thus helping to reduce large quantities of excess and or unused chemicals currently being purchased in large quantities for cost savings only and encouraging departments to buy green products whenever possible to help limit hazardous /toxic waste disposal cost and user safety concerns.

A brief description of how the institution safely disposes of hazardous, universal, and non-regulated chemical waste:
Hazardous Waste:
Environmental Health and Safety (EH&S) trains waste-generating departments, collects and stores waste in hazmat-specific facilities, and coordinates the transportation and disposal of the waste through various disposal companies. The wastes are disposed of in a variety of ways, but most are either incinerated or recycled. EH&S is providing all waste generators with the proper hazardous material containers as well as a standard uniform label that provides the contents and the hazard.

Universal Waste:
Facilities Management coordinates the collection, storage, and disposal of this waste. The waste is periodically transported and recycled by companies meeting strict performance requirements per the Department of Ecology and EPA.

Non-Regulated Chemical Waste:
Stored in the universal waste storage unit for subsequent pickup and recycling by the appropriate waste contractor.

A brief description of any significant hazardous material release incidents during the previous three years, including volume, impact and response/remediation:
No releases in the past three years.

A brief description of any inventory system employed by the institution to facilitate the reuse or redistribution of laboratory chemicals:
Central Washington University has purchased and implemented a Chemical Inventory Management System called LabCup that facilitates the collection and storage of information related to chemical types and amounts within campus laboratories and facilities.

Part 2. Electronic waste diversion

Does the institution have or participate in a program to responsibly recycle, reuse, and/or refurbish 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

If yes to either of the above, provide:

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:
To recycle electronic waste people contact facilities management or Information Services either through email or phone to request a pickup. CWU has its own recycler.

Is the institution’s electronic waste recycler certified under the e-Stewards and/or Responsible Recycling (R2) standards?:
Yes

Optional Fields 

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:
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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.