Waste minimization in an autobody repair shop

Conference · Sat Dec 31 04:00:00 EST 1994

OSTI ID:124545

Baria, D N; Dorland, D; Bergeron, J T ^[1]

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1. Univ. of Minnesota, Duluth, MN (United States). Dept. of Chemical Engineering

This work was done to document the waste minimization incorporated in a new autobody repair facility in Hermantown, Minnesota. Humes Collision Center incorporated new waste reduction techniques when it expanded its old facilities in 1992 and it was able to achieve the benefits of cost reduction and waste reduction. Humes Collision Center repairs an average of 500 cars annually and is a very small quantity generator (VSQG) of hazardous waste, as defined by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA). The hazardous waste consists of antifreeze, batteries, paint sludge, refrigerants, and used oil, while the nonhazardous waste consists of cardboard, glass, paint filters, plastic, sanding dust, scrap metal, and wastewater. The hazardous and nonhazardous waste output were decreased by 72%. In addition, there was a 63% reduction in the operating costs. The waste minimization includes antifreeze recovery and recycling, reduction in unused waste paint, reduction, recovery and recycle of waste lacquer thinner for cleaning spray guns and paint cups, elimination of used plastic car bags, recovery and recycle of refrigerant, reduction in waste sandpaper and elimination of sanding dust, and elimination of waste paint filters. The rate of return on the investment in waste minimization equipment is estimated from 37% per year for the distillation unit, 80% for vacuum sanding, 146% for computerized paint mixing, 211% for the refrigerant recycler, to 588% per year for the gun washer. The corresponding payback time varies from 3 years to 2 months.

• OSTI ID: 124545
• Report Number(s): CONF-940499--; ISBN 1-56590-014-6
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATION
AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY
DATA
GLYCOLS
MATERIALS RECOVERY
ORGANIC SOLVENTS
RECYCLING
REFRIGERANTS
WASTE MANAGEMENT
WASTE PRODUCT UTILIZATION