East Carolina University
OP-20: Hazardous Waste Management

Waste minimization practices are used to reduce or eliminate the amount of chemical waste generated on campus. Practices include chemical substitution with non-hazardous or less hazardous materials, good housekeeping practices including monitoring processes for leaks or spills, using chemicals on a smaller scale when conducting lab experiments/processes and on-time purchase of chemicals to minimize on-hand inventories. The University also has a RECYCHEM program where chemicals are transferred to other users instead of being offered for disposal.

Chemical wastes are collected from satellite accumulation areas across campus by trained Environmental Health and Safety staff. The collected materials are properly secured and stored in centralized storage locations until a qualified and licensed hazardous waste contractor removes the material for off-site disposal. Hazardous waste is managed and disposed of in accordance with local, state and federal regulatory requirements.

There were no significant hazardous material release incidents during the previous three years. EH&S is staffed with trained personnel to respond to hazardous material releases and the University has licensed environmental contractors available for remediation efforts. EH&S has responded to some minor release episodes during the previous three years such as small quantity mercury spills from thermometers and similar lab-scale chemical incidents. None resulted in any significant impact and were managed in-house without the need for contracting a third party environmental contractor.

The University has a RECY-CHEM program to redistribute unopened or uncontaminated surplus chemicals (in their original containers) to other individuals within the University system. This will help to reduce the increasingly high costs of hazardous waste disposal on campus, while providing faculty and researchers the opportunity to acquire free chemicals. This program is part of the University’s environmental sustainability program. Laboratory instructors/managers & researchers update their inventories annually and identify any unwanted, unopened chemicals. They consult with your colleagues first to see if they need any of the chemicals. If no one in their department/division needs the surplus, they donate the unwanted, unopened chemicals to the RECY-CHEM Program. A list of these surplus chemicals is posted on the EH&S website for review by lab personnel.

State-owned electronic waste is managed through the Central Stores Surplus department. Our current contractor, Powerhouse Recycling holds the R2 Certification, the highest environmental certification in the industry, along with the ISO 14001:2004 Certification. PHR’s complete process from transportation, to recycling, to final disposition point of all materials is audited throughout the year to follow all EPA laws and high environmental, health, security, and safety standards.

Data Sources: Terry Little, Recycling Manager and Phil Lewis, EHS Assistant Director