What a difference a year makes for the University of Houston’s new hazardous waste management program.

During the past year, the program has not only decreased disposal cost by 25 percent and reduced hazardous waste disposal by 69 percent, but it also has received national attention.

Before UH initiated the program in April 2005, the university spent $200,000 in disposing of hazardous waste. The cost dropped to $160,000 in fiscal year 2005 and $150,000 in fiscal year 2006. UH also cut the amount of hazardous waste disposal on campus from about 19 tons to 14 tons in fiscal year 2005 to 7 tons in fiscal year 2006.

“We expected good results, but we have exceeded our expectations with a major reduction of our six largest waste streams,” said Robert Schneller, director of the Department of Environmental Health and Risk Management (EHRM).

EHRM launched its waste minimization project in effort to reduce costs in an environmentally friendly way. The project includes recycling waste oil and lead-acid batteries and modifying disposal methods. Previously, UH discarded chemicals in absorbent material packaging. Now, the department combines chemicals and compatible chemical waste for disposal. Additionally, the department collaborated with the School of Art to incorporate a treatment process in the university’s photography darkrooms. The process extracts silver from photographic fixer waste, removing the hazardous component of the waste that is then disposed of with no cost.

Schneller credited the program’s success to his staff and Yuri Diaz Bialowas, a chemical engineering student who was a work-study employee at EHRM last semester.

Bialowas, who graduated in May, conducted research on which types of waste UH could combine and on the types of systems to use to extract silver from the photographic fixer waste. She also was the principal author of a technical article about the project. Schneller helped write the article, “Designing a Low-Cost Pollution Prevention Plan to Pay Off at the University of Houston,” which was published recently by The Journal of the Air & Waste Management Association.

The journal article noted that “waste minimization is a long-established environmental and economic best practice. The University of Houston has faced challenges in trying to reduce waste generation with the available resources while at the same time experiencing growth. Other institutions and organizations may face similar challenges. The university has found that despite these challenges, an effect (plan) to minimize waste generation can be developed with the resources available to the organization. Such a (plan) can be surprisingly effective in reducing waste quantities and can be highly cost effective.”

“I am proud we were able to utilize a UH student in the technical aspects of this project and the resulting article,” Schneller said. “We have very talented students here, and our work-study program allows us to tap this valuable resource.”

Schneller said they wrote the article because he wanted to share what he learned with others in the waste management industry.

“Other educational institutions may benefit by undertaking a similar process,” he said.

Francine Parker
fparker@central.uh.edu