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 manner. There are also activities tied to these waste streams to reduce the volume generated as well as the volume disposed. For calendar year 2012: The largest biological waste stream generated is Regulated Medical Waste (RMW); it totals 77.2 tons for calendar year 2012. The Environmental Health and Safety (EH&S) department provides oversight of campus management of RMW. The Vet College treats infectious carcasses on campus; this process does not require them to be transported off campus for treatment, because the final product of the process is a non-hazardous solid waste. The second largest waste stream is Hazardous Chemical Waste at the total of 43 tons a year. The chemical waste is collected by EH&S and processed at our 90-day facility. 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 contractor and processed to reduce the environmental impacts prior to disposal. The campus has a variety of 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. The third waste stream generated on campus is radioactive waste, which totals 3.26 tons of waste for calendar year 2012. All radioactive material is controlled by EH&S using a single point entry and exit. EH&S recommends the 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. Website Information: Hazardous Waste Manual: http://sp.ehs.cornell.edu/lab-research-safety/chemical-safety/hazardous-waste-manual/Pages/default.aspx

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. 2012 Waste Minimization Report Letter cannot be attached, but is available by emailing Spring Buck at scb23@cornell.edu.