| Overall Rating | Silver - expired |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 61.29 |
| Liaison | Lindsey MacDonald |
| Submission Date | Feb. 6, 2013 |
| Executive Letter | Download |
Western Washington University
OP-21: Hazardous Waste Management
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
1.00 / 1.00 |
Gayle
Shipley Director Environmental Health and Safety |
"---"
indicates that no data was submitted for this field
None
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
None
A brief description of steps taken to reduce hazardous, special (e.g. coal ash), universal, and non-regulated chemical waste:
Hazardous waste is managed in accordance with the Washington Administrative Code 173-303. The process of collecting hazardous waste from various locations on campus is described on EHS’s Chemical Waste website. The majority of Western’s hazardous waste is disposed of through the state contract holder for hazardous waste, Clean Harbors.
http://www.wwu.edu/ehs/waste_recycle_disposal/chemical.shtml
Universal waste, such as batteries, fluorescent lamps and mercury switches, is also managed according to the Washington Administrative Code 173-303. Western recycles waste as much as possible. The majority of WWU’s universal waste is disposed of through Clean Harbors, Ecolights NW, and Rechargeable Battery Recycling Corporation (RBRC).
Unwanted materials, such as light ballasts and oil, containing polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB’s) are a federally regulated waste stream that Western has been addressing for several years. WWU received energy grants in 2008 to address replacing PCB ballasts on campus with more energy efficient and environmentally friendly electronic and non-PCB ballasts. WWU’s Facilities Management department continues to remove and replace PCB ballasts in the everyday operations of the university.
None
A brief description of how the institution safely disposes of hazardous, universal, and non-regulated chemical waste:
Western properly disposes of all toxic chemicals, whether they are identified in federal or state regulations or not. A few chemicals are disposed of via the sanitary sewer as they are broken down to non-toxic components in the digestion process.
WWU seeks to minimize the presence of hazardous, universal and non-regulated waste materials on campus by providing an annual Pollution Prevention report to the Department of Ecology. The University works with Ecology to create attainable goals within certain time frames. These goals include reducing chemical use, substitution of highly hazardous chemicals with less hazardous chemicals, and education outreach.
None
The website URL where information about hazardous materials management is available:
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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