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Title: Consider recycling, reclaiming sorbents as a disposal alternative for waste materials

Journal Article · · Plant Engineering; (United States)
OSTI ID:5449725
 [1]
  1. Occupational Health and Environmental Safety, St. Paul, MN (United States)

One of the greatest single expenses of plant maintenance and spill response programs is disposing of waste materials safely and lawfully. And costs are rising significantly. Placing industrial wastes in a landfill can easily run $300 to $500 a drum. Plant engineers should consider that landfill disposal is not the only environmentally acceptable way to manage wastes. In many cases, materials used to absorb and contain spilled chemicals, lubricants, and other manufacturing and processing fluids can be recycled, re-claimed, and reused. Recovered sorbent materials can also be recycled by burning them in an EPA-regulated industrial furnace. The EPA licenses more than a dozen waste-to-fuel companies in the US. Some use sorbent waste directly as an alternate fuel. Others use special systems to handle solid, non-pumpable wastes. Methods include wringing or centrifuging liquids from sorbents or compacting, grinding, or liquefying the waste mixture. Both the technologies and regulations affecting waste disposal programs are changing rapidly. One method may not meet all of your plant's needs. However, a systems approach to waste disposal based on recycle/reclaim/reuse principles can significantly reduce waste streams, disposal costs, and environmental impact.

OSTI ID:
5449725
Journal Information:
Plant Engineering; (United States), Vol. 48:1; ISSN 0032-082X
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English