Practical EHS Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
To mark the beginning of America Recycles Week, the EPA released an update to its Advancing Sustainable Materials Management: Facts and Figures data report on national municipal solid waste (MSW) and construction and demolition debris for the year 2018.
EPA’s Test Methods for Evaluating Solid Waste, Physical/Chemical Methods, also known as SW-846, is the Agency’s official compendium of methods for use in complying with Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) regulations. SW-846 comprises over 200 analytical methods for sampling and analyzing waste and other matrices. Most methods are intended as guidance (i.e., nonregulatory or […]
Q. We generate F006 filter cake that we ship to a recycling facility that recycles 100% of the waste. As a small quantity generator, must we include this hazardous waste toward our 1,000 kg allowed per month or is this exempt because it’s recycled?
It’s been over a year since the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published in the Federal Register its long-awaited final rule revising regulations affecting recycling of hazardous materials under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). Known as the 2015 Definition of Solid Waste rule (2015 DSW rule), this final rule exempts certain hazardous secondary […]
FAQs About the Definition of Solid Waste (DSW) Rule—Part 2 Q: Does the 2014 DSW rule help to ensure that hazardous materials are actually legitimately recycled and not disposed of illegally? A: In addition to the changes to permitting and variances, the 2014 DSW rule “establishes a clear, uniform legitimate recycling standard for all hazardous […]
FAQs About the Definition of Solid Waste (DSW) Rule—Part 1 Q: What was the impetus for the DSW final rule? A: According to the EPA, the 2014 DSW final rule addresses “significant regulatory gaps in the 2008 rule” that could result in negative impacts on “communities adjacent to third-party recyclers, including disproportionately impacting minority and […]
Global Methane Initiative—A Trash to Treasure Story, Part 2 The United States is a very active partner in the GMI and in keeping with the original targeted areas of focus, has created four voluntary industry programs to address methane as an emission and as an energy source. Here is a look at the programs […]
Global Methane Initiative—A Trash to Treasure Story, Part 1 According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), methane “accounts for 14 percent of global GHG emissions with an estimated 7,196 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (MMTCO2E) of anthropogenic [manmade] emissions in 2010.” Although methane is emitted in smaller quantities than carbon dioxide (CO2) […]
Environmental Cleanups—A Changing Landscape In the United States, according to the EPA, 51 percent of the population live within three miles of one of the 156 million sites involved in cleanup under control of the Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response (OSWER). Of these, 30% (or 91 million) are brownfields, 35% (or 106 million) […]
