When you look around your facility it’s important for you to know when you are looking at a product – and therefore not subject to RCRA – and when you are looking at a waste – and therefore subject to RCRA. Unfortunately, not everything comes with a label reading, “Waste for Disposal” or “Product to be Used”. But as the generator of any solid waste you are responsible to make this determination and be able to defend it to a State or Federal inspector. Let’s say for example that during an on-site inspection an inspector for the USEPA’s hazardous waste enforcement division looks in one of your storage areas and proclaims, “those old drums of solvent over there look like waste to me.” “They’re not,” you retort and then quickly add, “As a matter of fact we hope to put those solvents into use sometime soon.” Right there you’ve got a problem on your hands and the challenge before you is to convince the inspector that the drums of solvent you are both looking at are not a waste but rather are a valuable product. How are you going to do that? Below are some questions you should ask yourself about the “products” you see throughout your facility. The answers to these questions will help you to determine if what you see is a product or a waste. Source: Missouri Department of Natural Resources guidance. (more…)
The title of this article contains three questions, but really they are all the same. If you have a product that has been abandoned, then it has been discarded; and if a product has been discarded, then it is a solid waste. Once you have determined your product is a solid waste, you must conduct a hazardous waste determination and identify its final status as a hazardous waste, non-hazardous waste, or perhaps a waste with an applicable exclusion from regulation.
A question I frequently receive at my Public Training Seminars and my Onsite Training goes something like this,
Company A has a 55-gallon drum of an unused product in storage. The container is unopened and it is believed that the contents are still usable, however Company A has no immediate plans for use and does not know what it is going to do with the drum. Based on the MSDS and generator knowledge the product will be a hazardous waste when disposed of. When, if ever, must Company A begin to manage the unused product as a hazardous waste?
This is tough question because the regulations can only take you so far. After that it is up to you as the generator of the waste to determine if the product in question is a solid waste and if so, is it a hazardous waste. This article will review the applicable Federal regulations of the US EPA to help identify when a product becomes a waste. It will also provide some criteria to follow when making your decision of Product v. Waste. (more…)
