Corrosive chemicals that can erode skin, sharp needles and all sorts of hazardous materials are used daily in the many labs across the Oregon State University campus.

After being used, the generated waste needs to go somewhere, and OSU generates a lot of it. 

According to an email from Daniel Kermoyan, interim executive director of the OSU Department of Health and Safety, OSU produces between 150,000 and 200,000 pounds of hazardous waste annually. The volume of waste produced at OSU is equal to the volume produced by all other universities in Oregon combined.

The Environmental Health and Safety department is working on a new hazardous waste pickup and tracking software to improve its handling of waste. 

The new system was based on a student’s computer science capstone project made in collaboration with the Division of Finance and Administration Information Technology department, according to Peter Schoonover, hazardous waste operations manager at DHS.

The system, set to launch this spring or early summer, aims to create a new, more user-friendly hazardous waste pick-up request program and a container labeling program housed at OSU. 

Hazardous waste’s current journey starts at the OSU research labs where it is produced and collected into containers. 

When the containers are filled, waste pickup requests are submitted through an online form. The containers are then picked up by EHS, typically the next day, and taken to OSU’s permitted 90-day hazardous waste storage facility.

At the facility, the waste is handled differently based on the material. 

Debris, acids, bases and other common materials that can safely be combined are treated as “bulk-waste.” The materials are moved from collected containers into “bulked” 30-gallon or 55-gallon drums. 

Chemicals that cannot be combined with other substances, called “labpack waste,” are labeled, stored and managed separately. 

Additionally, biological waste and sharp objects are gathered across campus and are shipped for disposal every four weeks. 

Universal waste materials such as bulbs, batteries and used oil pose a low risk to human health when handled safely. These are gathered at collection stations across campus and then are brought to the holding facility. 

A contracted hazardous waste vendor picks up the waste and takes it to another facility. There, the vendor further separates the materials before sending them off to their final disposal destinations.

Where a material’s journey might end varies. Bulked solvents might be repurposed into energy, while biological waste and stable chemicals are ultimately incinerated. 

Kermoyan emphasized that properly managing the volume of hazardous waste produced at OSU and maintaining safety requires the efforts of many professionals at the EHS department.

“(EHS professionals) help to ensure the university follows complex and challenging rules and regulations regarding the generation, storage, handling and ultimately the disposal of hazardous, universal, and biological waste,” Kermoyan said.

According to Kermoyan, students and employees should know that maintaining laboratory safety requires awareness and preparation. 

“For both lab safety and disposing of hazardous materials, it is critical that individuals identify hazards associated with the materials they are working with and plan for them in advance,” Kermoyan said.

Safety Data Sheets are important to review before conducting experiments to plan how to reduce hazards and doing formal, documented hazard assessments rather than informal ones is vital, according to Kermoyan.

Michael Burand, an associate professor of teaching in the department of chemistry, oversees the CH 26x sequence of general chemistry laboratory courses, teaches a graduate chemical safety seminar and is the chair of the chemistry department’s safety advisory group.

Burand said EHS provides important guidance on hazardous waste disposal and lab safety, and that he often reaches out to EHS for the proper disposal of materials while designing laboratory assignments for his courses. 

The department works with EHS on lab safety, filing near-miss reports and creating and implementing plans and procedures to mitigate safety risks. 

“Safety is everyone’s priority,” Burand emphasized. “Lab safety is a culture, not just a set of rules on the wall.”