Transcript CE/Geol/ChE 174 Hazardous Materials

CE/Geol/ChE 174
Hazardous Materials
Waste Minimization
Christopher Vais
[email protected]
510-610-3396
http://www.engr.sjsu.edu/~jennimi/Classes/CHE
174/
Waste Minimization
What is waste minimization?
Waste minimization refers to the use of source
reduction and/or environmentally sound
recycling methods prior to energy recovery,
treatment or disposal of waste.
Waste minimization does not include any
process designed to change the physical,
chemical or biological composition of waste
streams
Waste Minimization
USEPA’s Preferred hierarchal approach to
materials management:
1. Source Reduction
2. Recycling
3. Energy /Recovery
4. Treatment
5. Disposal
Source Reduction
Commonly knows as pollution prevention:
1. Reduces or eliminates the generation of
waste at the source
And
2. Refers to any practice that reduces the use
of hazardous materials in the production
process
Source Reduction
Common Examples:
• Early retirement of equipment such as mercury –
containing devices like switches and thermostats;
• Reformulating or redesigning products, such as
creating new PVC compounds without using lead;
• Using less toxic feedstocks, such as switching to
the use of lead-free solder in manufacturing;
• Improving work practices, such as reorganizing
paint batches in order to reduce cleaning
operations.
Recycling
• Recycling includes the reuse or recovery of inprocess materials or materials generated as byproducts that can be processed further on-site or
sent offsite to reclaim value.
• Recycling is a broad term that encompasses the
reuse of materials in original or changed forms
rather than discarding them as wastes.
• Recycling can also be thought of as the collection
and reprocessing of a resource so it can be used
again, though not necessarily for its original
purpose.
Recycling
Common Examples:
• Direct use/reuse of a waste in a process to make a product, such as
reusing a purge product used to clean paint lines rather than
disposing of it by incineration.
• Processing the waste to recover or regenerate a usable product,
such as collecting vapor from drycleaning operations, turning it
back into liquid, and reusing the liquid to clean more clothes.
• Using/reusing waste as a substitute for a commercial product.
When mercury is recycled from old equipment like switches, it can
be used in new products that still require mercury, such as
fluorescent bulbs. Recycling of mercury has been so successful that
there is now enough recycled mercury in the U.S. that
manufacturers do not need to use new mercury from mines.
Energy Recovery
• Gasification converts carbon-containing materials, under high
temperature and pressure, into synthesis gas.
• Synthesis gas or syngas is generally composed of hydrogen and carbon
monoxide but can be manufactured to contain methane and other higher
molecular weight compounds.
• Syngas can be used as a fuel to generate electricity or as a basic chemical
building block for use in the petrochemical and refining industries.
• Syngas generally has a heating value that is approximately two-thirds that
of natural gas and, when burned as fuel, produces emissions that are
similar to natural gas.
• In the petroleum refining industry alone, about seven to ten million tons
of hazardous byproducts containing carbon, currently managed under
the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), could be converted
into useable fuel or chemicals using gasification methods.
Benefits of Waste Minimization
• Waste minimization not only protects the environment; it
also makes good economic and business sense.
• For example, reducing waste generation through waste
minimization has helped some companies change their
RCRA regulatory status from large quantity generator (1000
or more kilograms of hazardous waste generated per
month) to small quantity generator (between 100 and 1000
kg of hazardous waste generated per month), or to
conditionally exempt small quantity generator (up to 100 kg
of hazardous waste generated per month).
• Some have managed to eliminate the generation of
hazardous waste and avoid RCRA regulatory requirements
altogether.
Benefits of Waste Minimization
Source reduction and/or environmentally sound recycling,
reuse, and reclamation practices have helped many
organizations reduce:
• The quantity and toxicity of hazardous and solid waste
generation
• Raw material and product losses
• Raw material purchase costs
• Waste management recordkeeping and paperwork burden
• Waste management costs
• Workplace accidents and worker exposure
• Compliance violations
• Environmental liability
Benefits of Waste Minimization
At the same time, waste minimization can
improve:
• Production efficiency
• Profits
• Good neighbor image
• Product quality
• Environmental performance
What is Pollution Prevention?
• Pollution Prevention, often called P2, means source
reduction, or preventing pollution at its source, before it is
generated.
• It includes any practice that reduces the quantity and/or
toxicity of pollutants entering a waste stream prior to
recycling, treatment, or disposal.
• Examples include:
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equipment or technology modifications,
reformulation or redesign of products,
substitution of less toxic raw materials,
improvements in work practices,
maintenance, worker training, and
better inventory control.
What is the difference between Waste
Minimization and Pollution Prevention
• Waste Minimization is a term found in
the Resource Conservation and Recovery
Act (RCRA) that refers to source reduction and
environmentally sound recycling of RCRA
hazardous waste.
• Pollution Prevention is a term found in
the Pollution Prevention Act of 1990 that refers
to source reduction of all toxic wastes, including
those released to air, water and land resources.
Source Reduction
• Source reduction includes any practice that
reduces the quantity and/or toxicity of pollutants
entering a waste stream prior to recycling,
treatment, or disposal.
• Examples include:
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equipment or technology modifications,
reformulation or redesign of products,
substitution of less toxic raw materials,
improvements in work practices,
maintenance, worker training, and
better inventory control.
Environmentally Sound Recycling
• Includes the use, reuse and/or reclamation of
residuals that may be designated as a hazardous
waste, or materials in a hazardous waste.
• A material is "used or reused" if it is used as an
ingredient in an industrial process to make a
product or, or if it is used as an effective
substitute for a commercial product.
• A material is "reclaimed" if it is processed to
recover a usable product, or if it is regenerated.
Is Waste Minimization Required by
Law?
In 1984, amendments to RCRA established the
following national policy, making waste
minimization the nation's preferred hazardous
waste management practice: "...the generation of
hazardous waste is to be reduced or eliminated as
expeditiously as possible. Waste that is
nevertheless generated should be treated, stored,
or disposed of so as to minimize the present and
future threat to human health and the
environment." (RCRA Sec.1003[b], 1984.)
RCRA Requirements for Waste
Minimization
RCRA requires facilities that generate or manage
hazardous waste to certify that they have a
waste minimization program in place that
reduces the quantity and toxicity of hazardous
waste generated to the extent economically
practicable.
Pollution Prevention Act of 1990
• Passage of the Pollution Prevention Act expanded the nation's waste
prevention policy beyond a RCRA-only framework, to minimizing or
eliminating toxic releases to all environmental media and natural
resources:
• "The Congress hereby declares it to be the national policy of the United
States that pollution should be prevented or reduced at the source
whenever feasible; pollution that cannot be prevented should be recycled
in an environmentally safe manner, whenever feasible; pollution that
cannot be prevented or recycled should be treated in an environmentally
safe manner whenever feasible; and disposal or other release into the
environment should be employed only as a last resort and should be
conducted in an environmentally safe manner." (PPA, Section 6602[b].)
• The Pollution Prevention Act has encouraged many organizations to
expand their focus from RCRA-only to a multimedia pollution prevention
focus. EPA offers a variety of information sources on multimedia pollution
prevention.
Waste Minimization in California
Hazardous Waste Source Reduction and
Management Review Act of 1989
• Also referred to as Senate Bill 14 or SB 14
• Requires hazardous waste generators subject
to the Hazardous Waste Control Law to
consider source reduction as the preferred
method of managing hazardous waste.
Hazardous Waste Source Reduction and Management
Review Act of 1989
Who is affected
• To determine if your operation must comply with the source
reduction planning requirements, ask yourself the following
questions:
1.
2.
3.
Did my facility generate 12,000 kg/yr or more of hazardous waste or
12 kg/yr or more of extremely hazardous waste in 2014?
Is this waste routinely generated from ongoing operations? (Onetime waste streams such as demolition debris from
decommissioning a production line are excluded.)
Does my business generate aqueous hazardous waste that
undergoes on-site treatment prior to discharge to the sewer? (If you
produce over 3,100 gallons/yr you are captured by SB 14.)
• If you answer yes to questions 1 and 2, or yes to question 3, you are
subject to the SB 14 planning requirements, which include a plan,
report and a summary progress report.
Hazardous Waste Source Reduction and
Management Review Act of 1989
SB 14 requires the preparation of waste minimization documents every four
years for those facilities that meet the waste generation thresholds in the
reporting year. Generators are required to prepare three documents.
• The first document is the Hazardous Waste Source Reduction Evaluation
Review and Plan (Plan). The Plan is a forward-looking document in which a
generator evaluates potential source reduction/waste minimization
measures for each “major” waste stream (waste streams that constitute
greater than 5% of the total waste generated).
• The second document is the Hazardous Waste Management Performance
Report (Report) and is a backward-looking document that must assess the
effect of each source reduction measure implemented since the baseline
year (i.e. 1998) on waste generation.
• The third document, the Summary Progress Report (SPR), consists of two
tables and a comment page that summarizes the results of past waste
minimization measures and any new waste minimization opportunities
that will be implemented in the next four years.
How to Develop an Effective Waste
Management Program
Obtain Management Commitment and Organize Teams
Management support demonstrates organizational
commitment to goals and can help reduce the tendency
for employees to disregard procedural changes.
Divide Facility into Logical Areas and Identify Raw Materials and
Wastes (Materials Accounting)
Waste and resource mapping will determine the quantity
and locations where raw materials are used, along with
the quantities and locations of waste generation. This
information can help design waste out of the
manufacturing process.
How to Develop an Effective Waste
Management Program
Identify Full Spectrum of Operating Costs (Environmental Cost
Accounting)
Environmental cost accounting helps companies calculate the
overall impacts of their products and processes. This
information can serve as a baseline to measure progress
towards goals and cost savings after the waste minimization
program is implemented.
Establish Goals and Priorities and Develop a Waste Management Plan
The waste minimization plan will become a more useful tool if
it is framed within the context of facility-specific waste goals.
These should be established before the waste minimization
plan is developed, with input from senior management and
employees, to ensure that priorities are aligned. The
collaborative formulation of goals and priorities ensures that a
waste minimization plan is an effective roadmap.
How to Develop an Effective Waste
Management Program
Implement the Waste Management Plan and Follow Up
on Recommendations/Implement Continuous
Improvement
Finally, the plan should be implemented at the
facility. Soliciting feedback and recommendations
for improvement helps guarantee that the waste
minimization plan is as effective as possible, while
engaging employees and demonstrating how their
expertise is valued. Striving to continuously
improve the waste minimization plan will keep
manufacturers a step ahead of their competition.