Universitas Islam Sultan Agung (UNISSULA) maintains an institutional policy and management process for the safe handling, storage, transport, treatment, and final disposal of hazardous waste generated through university activities.

The policy is established through UNISSULA Circular Letter No. 8409/J/SA/IX/2025, dated 10 September 2025. The Circular Letter requires hazardous waste to be managed safely and responsibly and explicitly covers hazardous and toxic waste (B3), medical waste, infectious waste, chemical waste, pharmaceutical waste, sharps, and laboratory waste.

Institutional Policy for Hazardous Waste

UNISSULA recognises that hazardous materials and hazardous waste can create risks to human health and the environment if they are not handled correctly.

The university therefore applies a management sequence based on:

Identification → Segregation → Labelling → Storage → Transport → Authorised treatment/disposal → Documentation

This approach helps ensure that hazardous waste is controlled throughout its lifecycle rather than being treated in the same way as ordinary domestic waste.

Types of Hazardous Waste Covered

The policy explicitly covers a broad range of hazardous waste streams, including:

• Hazardous and toxic waste (B3)
• Medical waste
• Infectious waste
• Chemical waste
• Pharmaceutical waste
• Sharps
• Laboratory waste

These categories reflect the different forms of hazardous materials that may arise from academic, laboratory, healthcare, research, and operational activities across the university.

Safe and Responsible Waste Management

The first provision of the Circular Letter requires hazardous waste to be managed safely and responsibly.

This establishes a general institutional principle that hazardous waste must be handled in a way that prevents unnecessary exposure, contamination, leakage, mixing, or environmental release.

The purpose is to protect both:

Human health + Environmental quality

Waste Segregation

Each unit that generates hazardous waste is required to segregate waste according to its type.

Segregation helps prevent incompatible or hazardous waste streams from being mixed together and enables appropriate treatment or disposal.

The policy therefore requires hazardous waste to remain distinguishable from ordinary domestic waste.

Labelling of Hazardous Waste

The Circular Letter also requires hazardous waste to be properly labelled.

Labelling is important because it helps identify:

• The nature of the waste
• Its potential hazard
• The appropriate handling procedure
• The correct storage and transport route

Clear identification supports safer handling throughout the waste-management process.

Safe Storage

Hazardous waste must be stored appropriately before further transport or treatment.

Storage should prevent waste from creating risks to people or the surrounding environment while awaiting transfer to the next stage of management.

This supports the broader principle that hazardous waste remains under controlled management from generation to final disposal.

Controlled Transport and Transfer

The policy requires hazardous waste to be transported and handed over according to its type and applicable requirements.

This ensures that waste is not moved informally or disposed of through uncontrolled routes.

The management sequence therefore continues beyond the generating unit:

Generation → Segregation → Storage → Controlled transport → Authorised recipient

Prohibition on Mixing with Domestic Waste

A particularly important requirement is the prohibition on mixing hazardous waste with ordinary domestic waste.

The Circular Letter states that hazardous waste must not be mixed with domestic waste.

This separation reduces the risk that hazardous materials will enter conventional waste streams that are not designed to manage them.

Prohibition on Direct Environmental Disposal

The policy also explicitly prohibits hazardous waste from being discharged or disposed of directly into the environment.

This protects soil, water, vegetation, wildlife, and human health from uncontrolled exposure.

The institutional principle is clear:

Hazardous waste → Controlled management

Not:

Hazardous waste → Direct environmental disposal

Authorised Treatment and Final Disposal

The final treatment and disposal of hazardous waste must be carried out through authorised units and/or licensed waste-management providers.

This requirement ensures that hazardous waste is transferred only to parties with the appropriate authority to manage it.

It also reduces the risk of unsafe informal disposal practices.

Use of Licensed Waste Management Providers

Where waste is transferred to an external provider, the policy requires the use of authorised or licensed waste managers.

This is particularly important for waste streams requiring specialist treatment, such as:

• Medical and infectious waste
• Pharmaceutical waste
• Chemical waste
• Sharps
• Laboratory hazardous waste

The use of licensed providers supports legal compliance and proper waste handling beyond the university boundary.

Documentation and Record Keeping

The Circular Letter requires hazardous-waste treatment and final disposal to be accompanied by recording and documentation.

Documentation provides an institutional record of waste management and helps support:

• Monitoring
• Accountability
• Traceability
• Internal control
• Environmental compliance

This is important because hazardous-waste management requires evidence that waste has been handled appropriately throughout the process.

Monitoring and Accountability

Recording and documentation also allow the university to monitor whether hazardous waste has been transferred through appropriate channels.

This strengthens accountability across generating units and waste-management providers.

The process can therefore be represented as:

Hazardous waste generated → Handling recorded → Transfer documented → Final treatment/disposal accounted for

Protection of Human Health

Hazardous waste can expose staff, students, healthcare workers, waste handlers, and surrounding communities to physical, chemical, or biological hazards.

The Circular Letter explicitly states that the policy is intended to prevent negative waste impacts on human health and the environment.

Safe segregation, labelling, storage, and transport all contribute to reducing exposure risks.

Environmental Protection

Improper hazardous-waste disposal can contaminate soil, water, and ecosystems.

UNISSULA therefore prohibits direct environmental disposal and requires hazardous waste to be processed through authorised management routes.

This supports protection of:

• Soil quality
• Surface and groundwater
• Campus ecosystems
• Biodiversity
• Surrounding communities

Medical and Infectious Waste

Medical and infectious waste are explicitly included within the policy.

These waste streams require careful management because of their potential biological hazards.

Segregation, appropriate storage, controlled transport, and authorised final treatment help reduce the risk of exposure and environmental contamination.

Chemical and Pharmaceutical Waste

The policy also explicitly covers chemical and pharmaceutical waste.

These materials may have properties that make them unsuitable for ordinary disposal.

Their inclusion ensures that hazardous chemical and pharmaceutical residues remain within controlled waste-management channels.

Sharps

Sharps are also identified as a hazardous waste category.

Sharps require separate handling because they may cause physical injury and may also carry biological or chemical contamination.

Their explicit inclusion ensures that they are managed through the hazardous-waste process rather than the domestic-waste stream.

Laboratory Waste

Laboratory waste is another category covered by the policy.

University laboratories may generate waste with chemical, biological, or other hazardous characteristics.

The policy therefore requires laboratory waste to be segregated, labelled, stored, transported, and transferred according to the appropriate requirements.

Institution-Wide Responsibility

Circular Letter No. 8409/J/SA/IX/2025 is addressed to leadership across faculties, bureaus, institutes, technical units, administrative units, and relevant organisational structures within UNISSULA.

This makes hazardous-waste management an institution-wide responsibility rather than the responsibility of a single laboratory or healthcare facility.

Hazardous Waste Management Process

The overall process established by the Circular Letter can be summarised as:

Hazardous waste generation → Segregation by type → Labelling → Safe storage → Controlled transport and transfer → Authorised treatment/final disposal → Recording and documentation

This creates a complete waste-management pathway from the point of generation to final disposal.

Policy Adopted in 2025

Circular Letter No. 8409/J/SA/IX/2025 was formally issued on 10 September 2025.

The document was issued on behalf of the Rector by the Vice Rector I of UNISSULA, giving institutional authority to the hazardous-waste management requirements.

Evidence of Policy and Practice

UNISSULA’s hazardous-waste management framework includes the following key measures:

1. Coverage of hazardous waste under university policyHazardous waste is explicitly covered by university policy, including B3, medical, infectious, chemical, pharmaceutical, sharps, and laboratory waste.
2. Waste segregation and labellingHazardous waste must be segregated and labelled according to its type.
3. Safe storage and controlled transportHazardous waste must be stored and transported through controlled procedures before transfer.
4. Prohibition on mixing with domestic wasteHazardous waste must not be mixed with domestic waste.
5. Prohibition on direct environmental disposalDirect disposal of hazardous waste into the environment is prohibited.
6. Authorised treatment and final disposalFinal treatment and disposal must be carried out through authorised units or licensed waste-management providers.
7. Recording and documentationRecording and documentation are required to support monitoring and accountability.