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 2015: Regulated Medical Waste (RMW) totaling 128.0 tons for calendar year 2015 and carcass waste totaling 207.3 tons for the same period are treated and disposed of at the College of Veterinary Medicine’s Waste Management Facility. The final product of the treatment processes there is a non-hazardous solid waste that is landfilled. Relatively small quantities of each waste stream (i.e., 0.6 tons of RMW contaminated with chemotherapeutic agents and 1.6 tons of carcass waste contaminated with plastic items in 2014) are shipped offsite for incineration via commercial disposal contractor. Cornell Environmental Health and Safety (EH&S) provides oversight of campus management of RMW. Hazardous Chemical Waste, at the total of 50.76 tons, was generated in 2015. The chemical waste is collected by EH&S and processed at our 90-day facility; of the 50.76 tons, 10.01 tons were corrosive waste neutralized onsite through the Duffield Elementary Neutralization system and was not shipped offsite. 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 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 978 lbs. of waste for calendar year 2015. 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.

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As a sustainability and waste minimization effort, Cornell University maintains a surplus chemical recycling program available for Cornell researchers. By using (and helping to promote) the surplus chemical recycling program, researchers can save money on chemical purchases and help to minimize chemical waste. The chemicals available through the surplus chemical recycling program are in containers that are unopened or in very good condition. Chemicals available in the surplus chemical recycling program are FREE of charge!

The electronic waste recycling program is a function of the University's solid waste and recycling operation, R5 Operations. Electronics are collected during routine daily recycling collection stops, are collected upon request, and are collected during building clean-outs. Any staff member at the University may request an item be collected for recycling. R5 Operations owns and operates a machine to degauss hard drives, as needed, prior to destruction. Cornell recycled 110.04 tons of electronic waste in 2015. Accepted electronics include, but is not limited to: Monitors, CPUs and hard drives, keyboards, circuit boards, cables, mice, printers, copiers, microwave ovens, televisions, cell phones, fax machines, power cords, extension cords, power strips, answering machines, fax machines, typewriters, pagers, cameras, VCR/DVD players, CD's, remote controls, and radios/stereos/tapes/records/8 track tape players.

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. 2015 Waste Minimization Report Letter cannot be attached, but is available by emailing Spring Buck at scb23@cornell.edu.