Cornell University
OP-21: Hazardous Waste Management

Cornell University's Environmental Health and Safety department operates chemical waste management program that collects these wastes from campus generators. This program includes generator training, pollution prevention efforts, and careful consideration of disposal options to minimize environmental impacts associated with these wastes. Each type of hazardous waste is handled and processed differently, but in a safe and compliant manor. There are also other activities tied to these waste steams to reduce the volume generated as well as the volume disposed. The largest hazardous waste steam generated currently is Regulated Medical Waste (RMW), it totals 109 tons a year. The final disposal of RMW is handled by the College of Veterinary Medicine but EH&S manages the areas outside the Vet College. The Environmental Health and Safety (EH&S) department provides guidance to the campus regarding RMW disposal and treatment. EH&S recommends only collecting the contaminated materials as RMW and disinfecting the liquids and other items as much as practical. The Vet College has the ability to treat infectious carcasses on campus and does not require them to be shipped off for disposal, the final product is a non-hazardous solid waste. This is also true just recently with the installation of a Rotoclave at the Vet College. It will process most types of RMW including sharps and treat them to the point they also can be disposed of as non-hazardous solid waste. The introduction of the rotoclave has allowed the campus to switch over to a bin system that is directly dumped into the rotoclave. This greatly reduces the handling of RMW in return reducing the amount of risk to the handler and the amount of PPE used and contaminated. The specifics of the disposal aspect of the program can be further outlined by the Vet College. The second largest waste steam is Hazardous Waste at the total of 58.6 tons a year. The chemical waste is collected by EH&S and stored at our 90-day facility, once there additional steps are taken to segregate the waste. The hazardous waste is segregated by hazard into secondary bins. The bins that contain items suitable for bulking are bulked once a week. The bulking process reduces cost for disposal, but in turn reduces volume by decreasing the number of containers destined for disposal along with the hazardous waste. Many of the items meeting the bulking criteria are collected in re-usable containers also reducing the amount of empty containers that would be disposed of as solid waste. There is also waste that does not meet the definition of hazardous waste, but for the safety of the environment is not suitable for drain or trash disposal. These types of waste are handled by the broker and processed to reduce the risk prior to disposal. Chemical waste that meets the criteria of recycling is removed from the hazardous waste stream. It is them processed to recover the material for recycling or directly recycled to other processes that could use the material. In the forefront of the chemical waste program stand many small programs and processes to track and reduce the chemicals used in the lab. The first is the surplus chemical recycling program, which takes un-used product that labs no longer need. The items are stored by EH&S and posted to an on-line site that labs can view and request items from. The chemical inventory system varies on campus by location, the most complete being the chemistry department. They have a central procurement system and location, then distribute chemicals to the labs and track their disposal via bar code. There is also campus wide tracking systems to meet the Department of Homeland Security and Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act requirements. Another process initiated by EH&S is campus building cleanouts, which occur in about 3 buildings each on a rotating basis. This is a process where EH&S visits each lab and assess the chemical inventory on hand and assist them in evaluating the need for each chemical. The recovered chemical are either recycled to other users or disposed of safely reducing the liability and risk in each lab. The final waste stream generated on campus is radioactive waste, which make up only 3.4 tons of waste. All radioactive material including waste is controlled by EH&S using a single point entry and exit. EH&S recommends by procedures outlined in the Radiation Safety Manual methods for surveying radioactive waste, this process reduces the waste to only material with detectable radioactivity. Any material that does not meet the definition of radioactive is disposed of only by EH&S as solid waste. Any waste that has a half-life of 90 days or less is held on-site for decay. Once the material has decayed a minimum of 10 half-lives and meets the disposal criteria is disposed of as solid waste minimizing the amount of radioactive waste generated. The waste that is shipped off has two processes to reduce volume. One waste stream is incinerated for volume reduction and burial and the other is used for energy recovery. The volume of radioactive waste is small compared to others, but is highly regulated and weighs heavy on public perception. In summary EH&S provide the University with the best possible guidance to meet regulatory compliance and also to promote good stewardship of the waste that they are generating. We make every feasible effort to reduce, reuse and recycle waste material as part of our programs. We also have a very good community relation with our Department of Public Works and work closely with them. Website Information: Lab Safety Manual: http://www.ehs.cornell.edu/LRS/LSM.cfm Chemical Waste Manual: http://www.ehs.cornell.edu/LRS/HWM/manual/HWM.cfm

Cornell University Health and Safety Policy establishes EH&S as having the responsibility for administering Cornell’s chemical waste management program and establishing policies and procedures for proper chemical waste management. This program is fully described at the URL provided below.

This program complies with New York State Department of Environmental Conservation requirements, including submission of annual waste generation and waste minimization reports which describe these impacts in quantitative detail. 2009 Waste Minimization Report Letter cannot be attached, but is available by emailing Spring Buck at scb23@cornell.edu.