Every day, around the clock, the UC Davis campus goes about its business of education and research in the fields of science, medicine, agriculture and industry. Enabling the University to achieve this noble mission is a well-orchestrated, highly regimented and often unrecognized effort: proper hazardous waste disposal.

Among the types of waste generated on campus requiring special handling is that of chemical hazardous waste. Staff and students alike can rest assured that these materials are monitored, collected and managed by a highly trained team of professionals.

“Though most people don’t know about it, there’s an actual ‘culture’ of waste management on campus,” says Jim New-man, Environmental Services Facility Manager, UC Davis Office of Environmental Health and Safety (EH&S). “Our goal is to minimize risk to people and the environment, and to protect the University from liability.” Federal, State and local agencies regulate and provide oversight for hazardous materials management on campus.

Jim works with colleagues in EH&S, Facilities Management and Materiel Management to address the many complexities involved in handling waste materials. All faculty and staff members involved in the process receive extensive and specialized training, and are required to regularly update their training. “It’s an ever-changing – and fascinating – prospect,” says Jim. “With the amount and range of research going on here, new substances are always being introduced into the waste stream. We monitor what comes in, so we’ll know how to deal with it when it comes back out.”

Contractors are also an essential part of the scene, providing specialized transport and disposal capabilities and keeping the entire process cost effective. “Our contractors are truly experts, and we rely on them to properly remove and redirect all hazardous chemical waste. None of these materials remain on campus,” says Jim. EH&S uses a strict and ongoing evaluation and certification process to ensure that contractors are fulfilling all government regulations, and then some. UC Davis actually holds its contractors to a higher standard, so Jim and his colleagues do extra re-search to be sure that all possible steps are being taken to protect the environment.

The UC Davis EH&S group maintains close relationships with their colleagues in the UC system as well as other North American universities and colleges. An ongoing exchange of information and best practices is invaluable in keeping up with the latest regulatory trends, documentation methods and disposal technologies.

Some hazardous chemical waste can be reused, some must be incinerated and some must be directed to landfill, though this is avoided as much as possible. Reuse and recycling of hazardous waste at UC Davis is a team effort. For example, “flammable solvent waste,” a mixture of various solvents collected by EH&S, can be used as alternative fuel for incinerators or kilns that dry commercial products such as cement.

“We divert as much solvent waste to recycling opportunities as possible,” says Jim. “Reusing these materials reduces the demand for new fossil fuel sources.”  EH&S also arranges for salvage of elemental mercury and some mercury compounds from laboratory waste for reuse in scientific, industrial and medical applications. The Facilities Management group recycles tons of fluorescent light tubes every year, and Materiel Management, along with the R4 group, receives a huge amount of electronic “universal waste” and diverts it from landfills by recycling it through the Bargain Barn.

Helping UC Davis staff and students deal with hazardous waste correctly is another of the EH&S group’s mandates. Departmental Safety Advisors (DSAs) help researchers comply with regulations and properly store, label and dispose of their materials. Jim and his colleagues support the DSAs by providing updated knowledge and advice. When it’s time to remove the unwanted chemicals from the lab, the EH&S group guides the process. “The researcher schedules a pick-up, and we come over and take custody of the materials,” says Jim. Once it is in EH&S’s hands, the waste is diverted to the most ecologically-friendly option available.

EH&S offers user-friendly re-sources to all of its clients who handle hazardous waste.

• “Safety Nets” – an online series of advisories on hazardous waste management

• Online waste labeling & pick-up request system

• Specialized training for lab workers based on the kind of research they plan to do

• Required training and additional informational sessions

• Advice and information

Speaking for everyone concerned with hazardous waste management on campus, Jim says, “We are not only physically responsible but ecologically responsible for what happens to these materials. Our commitment is to manage our waste in the correct way. Not the easiest or least expensive way, but the right way.”

To learn more about the EH&S group and its mission, visit ehs.ucdavis.edu.