Overall Rating Gold
Overall Score 68.50
Liaison Derek Nichols
Submission Date May 17, 2022

STARS v2.2

University at Buffalo
OP-20: Hazardous Waste Management

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 1.00 / 1.00 Tony Oswald
Hazardous Waste Manager
Environment Health & Safety
"---" 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:
Containers of hazardous wastes are labeled with a specialized hazardous waste label as soon as material is added to them. Wastes are segregated according to chemical compatibility so an adverse reaction does not occur when adding waste to a container

A brief description of how the institution safely disposes of hazardous, universal, and non-regulated chemical waste:
When laboratories wish to dispose of waste in their individual satellite accumulation areas, the following steps are taken:
• A pickup request is made to UB EH&S via fax or electronic means providing information about the type of waste they have and the location.
• Information is logged into our hazardous waste computer tracking system which tracks waste from pickup to off-site shipment
• If the volume exceeds 55 gallons, it must be picked up within 3 days.
• EHS& will collect waste from individual labs, store it in a secure storage area and ship it out for proper disposal within the USEPA regulated time frame.
• All hazardous waste is disposed of in accordance with local, state and Federal regulations.

A brief description of any significant hazardous material release incidents during the previous three years, including volume, impact and response/remediation:
None

A brief description of any inventory system employed by the institution to facilitate the reuse or redistribution of laboratory chemicals:
None

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:
A call can be placed to university facilities for pick ups of various electronic waste and then an outside company comes and picks up whatever waste the university has twice a week.

https://www.buffalo.edu/sustainability/climate-action/zero-waste/Recycling/computer-electronics.html

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:
https://www.buffalo.edu/administrative-services/training/training-catalog/Facilities/right-to-know.html

Additional documentation to support the submission:
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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.