11/27/2012

How to Avoid Speculative Accumulation

Recycling hazardous waste is a great way to save the planet and your bottom line. The RCRA regulations include many provisions under which hazardous wastes can be legitimately recycled scattered throughout 40 CFR Part 261, Subpart A. When you recycle hazardous waste, you are exempt from the following regulations that apply to hazardous waste...

10/23/2012

Precious Metals Recycling

10/09/2012

Regulating Underground Storage Tanks

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, “there are approximately 587,000 underground storage tanks (USTs) nationwide that store petroleum or hazardous substances.” (http://www.epa.gov/oust/) The Office of Underground Storage Tanks (OUST) was established by EPA in 1985 in response to Congress’s statutory mandate under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act to better regulate USTs. The intent was to...

09/25/2012

RCRA Options for Recycling Waste Lead-acid Batteries

Although lead-acid batteries generally exhibit the hazardous waste characteristic of toxicity for lead (D008) and would be subject to significant restrictions when discarded, the EPA encourages their recycling by providing two alternative management standards. Lead-acid batteries may be managed as “universal waste” under 40 CFR Part 273 or under the specific alternative standards of...

08/28/2012

Elementary Neutralization: Treatment Without a Permit

Treating your hazardous waste without a permit?! Is that really possible? Yes! Yes, it is. While the EPA generally prohibits you from treating hazardous waste without a permit, there are exceptions. Under certain conditions you can neutralize your corrosive hazardous waste and pipe it out as sewage rather than...

07/24/2012

Frequency of Hazardous Waste Tanks Self-Inspections

Throughout Parts 264 and 265 of 40 CFR, the U.S. EPA requires persons who store hazardous waste, including large and small quantity generators, to periodically self-inspect waste containment units. These periodic self-inspections are your opportunity to ensure that you stay in compliance with RCRA and head off any...

06/26/2012

Determining Toxicity & When to Use the TCLP Test

A solid waste exhibits the characteristic of toxicity if it contains an elevated level of a toxicity contaminant. The toxicity contaminants are listed in Table 1 at 40 CFR 261.24 and include, but are not limited to...

05/22/2012

What Are the Underlying Hazardous Constituents the Land Disposal Restrictions Make You Treat For?

Section 3004(m) of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act prohibits the land disposal of any hazardous waste unless it has been treated to minimize short- and long-term threats to human health and the environment. The EPA specifies waste treatment standards in 40 CFR Part 268—“Land Disposal Restrictions.” For most wastes, the treatment standard is to...

04/24/2012

Are Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs Hazardous Waste?

03/27/2012

Dating Hazardous Waste Containers

Q. One of the more common ways to manage hazardous waste is to temporarily accumulate hazardous waste in 55-gallon drums or other containers at or near waste-generating processes in satellite accumulation areas. Then, once the containers are full, the waste is moved to a central accumulation area for a few months before...