Minimizing Hazardous Waste
Kelley Etherington (Kelley_e@berkeley.edu)
The Green Initiative Fund (TGIF) Preliminary Abstract Submission:
Minimizing Hazardous Waste through Chemical Exchange
Project Lead: Kelley Etherington, Hazardous Materials Specialist, EH&S
Phone: (510) 643-7195
Email: Kelley_e@berkeley.edu
Patrick Goff, Associate Director, Hazardous Materials & Radiation Safety, EH&S
Cheryl Reinman, EH&S Webmaster
Introduction:
This project will reduce the quantity of chemicals purchased by UC Berkeley, reduce the amount
of hazardous materials in storage and reduce hazardous waste disposal and associated costs. Staff
and students will have better access to available chemicals that are already in storage elsewhere
on campus but that are no longer needed. This program already exists and is known as the
Chemical Exchange Program (CHEX). CHEX has proven very successful in the past, but
regulatory priorities have shifted and the CHEX program has become dated. EH&S would like to
better understand what is working at other campuses and implement the necessary changes to
revitalize the program.
The potential for cost savings to the campus is significant. For example, a gallon of
Triethylamine Reagent costs about $250. A lab that no longer needs their gallon of
Triethylamine Reagent must pay about $50 to dispose of it as hazardous waste. By not having to
buy or dispose of the chemical, the campus saves $300. Considering that EH&S picks up and
disposes of about 1,500-2,000 hazardous waste items per month, and maybe 1% is reusable, the
potential for cost saving could be on the order of $150-$750 per month. EH&S will also donate
the cost of handling the items back to the department who purchased the chemical.
Background:
UC Berkeley’s CHEX program was developed in the 1990’s by the Office of Environment,
Health & Safety (EH&S). It was one of the first University-run chemical reuse programs in the
nation. Between 2000 and 2008, approximately 450 chemical items – 2,400 pounds - were given
away for reuse, saving the campus over $10,000 in disposal costs. This does not take into
account the savings by eliminating the need to purchase 2,400 pounds of expensive, laboratorygrade chemicals. Cost aside, the benefit to campus also includes the added safety to laboratory
workers by removing unnecessary chemicals.
Towards the end of the decade in which CHEX became a “household” name on campus,
environmental regulations continued to broaden and increase workload for EH&S staff. In 2010,
a campus-wide furlough reduced the pay and the number of hours staff worked, and EH&S
reluctantly suspended the CHEX program. This “nice to have” reuse program continues to be put
on hold due to a never-ending list of regulatory-driven programs. EH&S would like the campus
to once again be recognized as a leader in hazardous waste reduction, but the current CHEX
program suffers because the process is time consuming and the database is cumbersome.
The current program requires campus clients to submit all unwanted chemicals to EH&S as
hazardous waste and pay for disposal. EH&S staff set aside items that are unopened and meet
specific chemical reuse criteria, and post the items on the EH&S web site. The concept behind
CHEX is excellent, but the written procedures, the database, the web site and the processes in
general have not been revamped since the program was launched 20 years ago.
Minimizing Hazardous Waste
Kelley Etherington (Kelley_e@berkeley.edu)
TGIF funding will bring new life to the program, make it more convenient and accessible to
campus clients and give EH&S the ability to study what is working at other campuses. One idea
is to set up a “virtual” exchange where the chemicals stay in the lab but are posted on a web site
for reuse (sort of like eBay but for free). EH&S would coordinate the advertising, the delivery of
the chemicals and track waste reduction quantities. Another idea is to set up satellite chemical
reuse areas within local storerooms for major departments like MCB, PMB or QB3. And yet
another idea is to work with BearBuy to redirect would be chemical purchasers to CHEX if the
chemical is listed as available.
Proposal:
EH&S is proposing to hire a student to research the various programs by which other campuses
run their chemical reuse programs and help implement improvements. The student will
interview campus clients, work closely with chemical specialists and IT staff to improve the web
site interface, make recommendations for improvement and better advertise the program.
Measurements of Success:
By the end of the grant project:
1. The number of items that EH&S sets aside for reuse and posts to the web exceeds 50.
2. The number of requests for chemicals exceeds 15 per month.
3. The projected hazardous waste disposal cost savings to campus, based on the inventory of
reusable chemicals on hand, exceeds $2,000 per year.
Monitoring and Control:
The measurements of success has been easily tracked by “Chemical Waste Tracking System”
software operated by EH&S. Newer software replaced this system in 2010 and will require some
modification as part of this grant. Those savings, as well as waste disposal cost savings, are
easily calculated since each item is weighed and inventoried at the Hazardous Materials Facility.
We are confident that student help to streamline the process will aid in the reuse of many
hundreds of chemicals in the years following the grant period.
Goals:
This project contributes to a campus sustainability goal to reduce hazardous waste generation by
approximately 50 pounds per month, or 600 pounds, by June 30, 2013. The savings to campus in
one year should exceed the proposed grant expenses, and will continue well into the future. This
project is collaboration between EH&S and an intern from Environmental Studies or Science.
Budget:
Item
Student Intern 8hrs/week, 32 weeks
Software/IT support
Chemical storage cabinets for satellite storage
areas
TOTAL
Cost Per
Item
$12/hr
$3,000
$1,400
Quantity
256 hrs
1
4
Total Amount
$3,072
$3,000.00
$5,600.00
$11,672