Do Educational Institutions Score High on Their Sustainability Efforts?: A Case Study (and Grade) on Chemical Waste Management and Minimization in Teaching and Research Laboratories at the University of Minnesota

Abstract

During a time when environmental issues flood the headlines of newspapers, magazine covers, and television broadcasts, it is hard not to come across sustainable efforts by “concerned” corporations and institutions trying to proactively tackle these environmental issues. With all the publicity associated with the color green stamped on a product or plastered across a campaign, it is easy for the less sustainable acts by these entities to slip through the cracks and go unnoticed. Waste management and minimization in university and college teaching and research laboratories is one of these areas. This Note studies chemical waste management and minimization in teaching and research laboratories at the University of Minnesota, one of the largest institutions by student enrollment in the country. By examining the issue of waste management and minimization at the University, this Note helps elucidate how universities and colleges have missed key areas of development and improvement of sustainability. Part II of this Note provides an overview on sustainability to help contextualize the role of chemical waste management and minimization. This Part discusses the federal and state legal infrastructure that governs waste management and minimization in university teaching and research laboratories in Minnesota and examines the regulations currently in place by the Department of Environmental Health and Safety (EHS). Finally, Part III evaluates this legal and regulatory framework and suggests proposals on how Minnesota lawmakers and regulatory agencies can model and incorporate the legal framework and infrastructure of other states into Minnesota’s current waste management regime. By implementing this legal and regulatory framework while considering current university waste disposal and regulation, Minnesota can reduce a considerable amount of university chemical waste—an amount that contributed to the University of Minnesota’s high ranking among Minnesota hazardous waste generators in 2009.