大學實驗場所事業廢棄物減量政策之探討-以某國立大學為例

Abstract

依行政院環境保護署民國90年10月24日修正「廢棄物清理法」第2條規定，學校實驗室係法所明定之事業，亦即學校實驗室所產生之廢棄物亦為事業廢棄物，應依據「廢棄物清理法」之相關規定予以妥善貯存、清運、處理及申報。相較於一般工廠有固定的製程，使用原料數量大且單純穩定，產出的事業廢棄物特性也較為固定；而由於綜合型大學裡存在各種不同領域及屬性之實驗室，由各種不同類型實驗室活動所產生之廢棄物其特色為類別多、量少、複雜性高、且常為有害之事業廢棄物。如學校實驗室產出之有害事業廢棄物有實驗場所廢液、毒化物、放射性物質及其廢料、生物醫療廢棄物等，因其成分複雜，分類不易，在貯存及處理皆面臨不同的問題；亦有實驗室負責人退休後，留有大量化學藥品未妥善處理，甚至是過期或是不明藥品等，後續處理上也存在風險；因而學校處理這些有害事業廢棄物之過程常是非常耗時耗力且所費不貲。為了能減少實驗室廢棄物對環境的衝擊、降低人員危害及達到校園的永續經營之目標，本實務實習以某國立大學為對象，期望藉由實務實習過程了解該校事業廢棄物的類型及產量，同時觀察實驗室對於廢棄物的產出、貯存、管理及廢棄之實際狀況。實習期間蒐集該校各項廢棄物之產量進行統計，並彙整民國90-99年度之各項有害事業廢棄物資料，評析該校各項廢棄物之產生量及各項有害事業廢棄物產量趨勢等；也蒐集該校研究計畫數量、經費等資料與各項有害事業廢棄物進行線性迴歸檢定分析。 實驗廢棄物統計結果顯示該校有害事業廢棄物產量最多的是實驗場所廢液，以民國99年度為例，實驗場所人員所產出之實驗場所廢液人年均量達6.5公斤，其次為生物醫療廢棄物，人年均量達3.18公斤。實驗場所廢液以理學院化學系產量最大，人年均量達69.68公斤；生物醫療廢棄物則為醫學院產量最大，人年均量達12.23公斤。由有害事業廢棄物產量統計也發現除醫學院外，其他各學院陸續新增生物醫療廢棄物產出，顯示新興科技研究會影響學術單位事業廢棄物之組成特性。經線性迴歸檢定統計，全校實驗場所廢液與研究經費呈現正相關，P值為0.009，其中醫學院之P值為0.02。由此結果可預期未來研究經費增加時，實驗場所廢液產生量也將相對地增加。生物醫療廢棄物與研究經費之相關性以理、工、電資及公衛學院等之P值均小於0.05，顯示生物醫療廢棄物的產出已不再局限於醫學院及生科等學院，必須提早規劃減量政策以因應未來發展趨勢。經由實地訪視各學院實驗室廢棄物的管理及處理情形，發現大部分實驗室未訂定廢棄物減量措施，對自己實驗室產出廢棄物的數量也不能有效掌握。大學裡的實驗場所是以研究導向及栽培學生為重點，因此實驗室廢棄物減量相對來說容易被輕忽。 然而學校是教育單位，應重視及落實環保教育於研究及生活中，培養高知識人才具有環保意識及愛護地球之知識及行為。實驗室負責人及學生應重視廢棄物減量，在實驗研究中應有廢棄物的減量措施並落實。本研究亦提供事業廢棄物減量政策供校方參考：包括成立有害事業廢棄物減量小組、有害事業廢棄物減量教育訓練宣導、建置藥品電子化管理系統、建立資源分享平台、藥品及耗材的共同採購、鼓勵系所建置化學藥品中心、製作實驗室廢棄物產量統計分析年報及鼓勵措施、提高廢棄物處理的收費。在實驗室廢棄物減量的策略包括：實驗室應有良好的規劃、實驗前先行評估廢棄物的毒性及產生量、應考慮實驗製程的修正，以減少廢棄物、藥品及耗材的源頭管控及專人管理、耗材使用可回收或重複使用之材質、有害事業廢棄物正確的分類，培養實驗室人員節約不浪費的行為、剩餘藥品及材料的釋出分享、減少高毒性及高污染的藥品，材料的使用。

According to Executive Yuan Environmental Protection Agency’s 'Waste Disposal Act' article 2 amended on October 24, 2001, laboratories in schools are regulated as part of industries, that is, the wastes produced by thoses laboratories should be properly restored, removed, processed, reported, etc., (as written in the aforementioned article). There are a great variety of labs in universities, and the features of the wastes are different-typed, less amount, more complicated, and hazardous. General factories can decrease their processing costs by means of fixed production processes, large amounts of raw materials, and simple, stable waste. However, university labs have to spend more time, effort and money on wastes management, compared with these factories, because of the complex composition of their wastes, e.g. chemical wastes, toxic chemicals, radioactive substances and wastes, biological infectious wastes, etc, which can cause problems during the process of classification and storage. There are also risks when dealing with these wastes in labs of retired investigators, who may leave large amounts of chemicals, even unknown or expired chemicals in their labs. To reduce the laboratory waste’s threats on the environment, risk of harming the campus staffs, and to achieve the goal of sustainable development, this study is practiced by collecting the data of the university, understanding the types of industrial wastes, and observing the actual situation of the output, storage, management and disposal of the lab wastes. After collecting the data of hazardous industrial waste materials, from 2001 to 2010, the trends of the total wastes and variety of hazardous industrial wastes for each year were analyzed. A simple linear regression test was used for analysis of the budget of research projects and the hazardous industrial wastes. The results of this study show that the most amount of hazardous industrial wastes is chemical waste. In 2010, the average amount of chemical waste is 6.5 kg/per-year-person, biological waste is 3.18 kg/per-year-person, and the most chemical waste comes from the Department of Chemistry, 69.68 kg/per-year-person. The most biological medical waste is 12.23 kg/per-year-person in the College of Medicine. According to the statistics found on hazardous industrial wastes, biological waste is also found in other departments besides the College of Medicine, showing that new bio-technologies research will affect the patterns of composition and distribution of industrial waste in the university. By the simple linear regression test of statistical methods, chemical waste and research funding are positively correlated (P= 0.009; the Department of Medicine, P=0.02). We can expect that when research funding increases, the chemical waste will be relatively increased. The biological waste of the Colleges of Science, Engineering, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Public Health, etc., have P values <0.05, indicating that biological waste output is no longer limited to the Colleges of Medicine and Life Science. The University must plan a reduction policy in advance to respond to the future trends. Visits to different lab showed that most of them have no waste reduction measures implemented, and the amount of the lab waste is not well controlled. University laboratories are research-oriented and focus on teaching students, so it’s easy to overlook the importance of waste reduction. However, schools are educational institutions, so they should emphasize and implement the importance of environmental education in research and in life, training intellectuals to not just have the knowledge of environmental awareness but to apply this knowledge in their behavior for the better of the earth. For example, lab directors and students should focus on waste reduction, and there should be waste reduction measures in experimental studies, which must be strictly administered. Finally, this study will provide recommendations for industrial waste reduction policy for the university to reference to, which include：the establishment of a hazardous industrial wastes reduction team, hazardous industrial wastes reduction education, training and advocacy, building a computerized management system of chemicals, the establishment of a resource-sharing platform, common procurement of chemicals and supplies, preparing annual reports of statistics of laboratory wastes,etc.