Solid waste exclusions

The primary contractor at Site A had identified clean zones, buffer zones, and related site control procedures in its written plan however, onsite implementation differed from those specified in the plan. For example, the exclusion zones identified in the plan at the upper pad of the wastewater treatment plant, the dredge area, and the solid waste storage area were marked with signs requiring PPE, but were not labeled with red banners as called for in the plan. In addition, the exclusion zones did not have controlled access through one point of entry as described in the plan, nor were the buffer zones established and demarcated with yellow banners. 

A material cannot be a hazardous waste if it does not meet the definition of a solid waste. Thus, wastes that are excluded from the definition of solid waste are not subject to the RCRA Subtitle C hazardous waste regulation. There are 20 exclusions from the definition of solid waste ... 

Coke byproduct wastes. Coke, used in the production of iron, is made by heating coal in high-temperature ovens. Throughout the production process many byproducts are created. The refinement of these coke byproducts generates several listed and characteristic wastestreams. However, to promote recycling of these wastes, U.S. EPA provided an exclusion from the definition of solid waste for certain coke byproduct wastes that are recycled into new products. 

Shredded circuit boards. Circuit boards are metal boards that hold computer chips, thermostats, batteries, and other electronic components. Circuit boards can be found in computers, televisions, radios, and other electronic equipment. When this equipment is thrown away, these boards can be removed and recycled. Whole circuit boards meet the definition of scrap metal, and are therefore exempt from hazardous waste regulation when recycled. On the other hand, some recycling processes involve shredding the board. Such shredded boards do not meet the exclusion for recycled scrap metal. In order to facilitate the recycling of such materials, U.S. EPA excluded recycled shredded circuit boards from the definition of solid waste, provided that they are stored in containers sufficient to prevent release to the environment, and are free of potentially dangerous components, such as mercury switches, mercury relays, nickel-cadmium batteries, and lithium batteries. 

Mineral processing spent materials. Mineral processing generates spent materials that may exhibit hazardous waste characteristics. Common industry practice is to recycle these mineral processing wastes back into the processing operations to recover mineral value. U.S. EPA created a conditional exclusion from the definition of solid waste for these spent materials when recycled in the mineral processing industry, provided the materials are stored in certain types of units and are not accumulated speculatively. 

Petrochemical recovered oil. Organic chemical manufacturing facilities sometimes recover oil from their organic chemical industry operations. U.S. EPA excluded petrochemical recovered oil from the definition of solid waste when the facility inserts the material into the petroleum-refining process of an associated or adjacent petroleum refinery. Only petrochemical recovered oil that is hazardous because it exhibits the characteristic of ignitability or exhibits the toxicity characteristic for benzene (or both) is eligible for the exclusion. 

Spent caustic solutions from petroleum refining. Petrochemical refineries use caustics to remove acidic compounds such as mercaptans from liquid petroleum streams to reduce produced odor and corrosivity as well as to meet product sulfur specifications. Spent liquid treating caustics from petroleum refineries are excluded from the definition of solid waste if they are used as a feedstock in the manufacture of napthenic and cresylic acid products. U.S. EPA believes that spent caustic, when used in this manner, is a valuable commercial feedstock in the production of these particular products, and is therefore eligible for exclusion. 

Zinc fertilizers made from recycled hazardous secondary materials. U.S. EPA promulgated a conditional exclusion from the definition of solid waste for hazardous secondary materials that are recycled to make zinc fertilizers or zinc fertilizer ingredients. Zinc, an important micronutrient for plants and animals, can be removed from zinc-rich manufacturing residue and used to produce zinc micronutrient fertilizer. A second conditional exclusion applies to the zinc fertilizer products made from these secondary materials. 

In undertaking our search of the literature linked to bioanalytical assessment of solid waste leachates (Tab. 2), we circumscribed it to small-scale toxicity testing performed on leachates. Furthermore, we did not exclude marine bioassays, but we exclusively selected literature references involving test battery approaches (TBAs) on solid wastes (or their elutriates). As defined previously in the first chapter of this book, a TBA represents a study conducted with two or more tests representing at least two biotic levels. As also pointed out in Section 2 of this chapter, TBAs are suitable to assess hazard at different levels so as not to underestimate ecotoxicity. Nevertheless, we have not excluded from this review publications describing other types of bioassays (e.g., terrestrial bioassays, sub-cellular bioassays or those carried out with recombinant DNA (micro)organisms and biosensors), when those were part of the TBA. 

EPA. 1980c. Identification and listing of hazardous waste. Exclusions Solid wastes which are not hazardous wastes. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Code of Federal Regulations. 40 CFR 261.4. NTIS No. PB81-190019. 

Waste Minimization Waste minimization is any effort to reduce or recycle the quantity of waste generated, and when feasible, to reduce or eliminate toxicity. It includes any source reduction or recycling activity undertaken to reduce the total volume or quantity of hazardous waste and/or the toxicity of hazardous waste, with the goal of minimizing threats to human health and the environment. Waste minimization focuses exclusively on solid wastes regulated under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), and does not include treatment, unless the treatment is part of the recycling process. However, it is broader in scope than P2 to also include recycling and other means to reduce the amount of waste that must be treated or disposed of off- or onsite. 

Determining Whether a Solid Waste is Hazardous for Subtitle C Purposes A person who handles a solid waste not within one of the regulatory exclusions must look to 261.30-33 and 261.20-24 to determine whether that waste is hazardous and hence subject to the full panoply of Subtitle C regulations. Sections 261.30-33 contain EPA s hazardous waste lists 261.21-24 identify four characteristics (ignitibility, corrosivity, reactivity, and Extraction Procedure toxicity) that make a waste hazardous regardless of whether it is included on a hazardous waste list. 

In 1989, ERA applied its revised interpretation of the Bevill Amendment (exclusion) to solid waste from the extraction, beneficiation, and processing of ores and minerals. The slag from the primary zinc processing is the only zinc-related waste remaining in the Bevill exclusion (DO11991). 

Feed Preparation Ethanol can be produced from a wide range of feedstock. These include sugar-based (cane and beet molasses, cane juice), starch-based (corn, wheat, cassava, rice, barley) and cellulosic (crop residues, sugarcane bagasse, wood, municipal solid wastes) materials. Indian distilleries almost exclusively use sugarcane molasses. Overall, nearly 61% of the world ethanol production is from sugar crops (Berg, 2004). 

As a business, you want to remain as vmregulated as possible while still obeying the law and remaining a responsible corporate citizen. You ll want to note the specific exclusions to the rules that may apply to yom" operations. For instance, EPA excludes certain solid wastes from the definition of hazardous waste. If a material meets an exclusion from the definition of hazardous waste, it cannot be a hazardous waste — even if it is technically a listed or characteristic waste. 

A. Kashi, V. Romheld, Y. Chen, Trace metal distribution in soluble organic matter Ifom municipal solid waste compost determined by size-exclusion chromatography. Environ. Toxicol. Chem. 21 (9) (2002) 1775-1782. 

Waste. In theory, the term waste applies to nonproduct outputs of processes and discarded products, irrespective of the environmental medium affected. In practice, since the passage of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), most uses of the term waste refer exclusively to the hazardous and solid wastes regulated under RCRA, and do not include air emissions or water discharges regulated by the Clean Air Act or the Clean Water Act. The Toxics Release Inventory, TRI, refers to wastes that are hazardous as well as nonhazardous. 

Identification and Listing of Hazardous Waste 40 CFR 261.4(b) Exclusions Solid Wastes which are Not... 

Information provided in Part III. Section 8. of Form R is optional. In this section, you may identify waste minimization efforts relating to the reported toxic chemical. Waste minimization reduces the amount of the toxic chemicai in wastes by reducing waste generation or by recycling. This can be accomplished by equipment changes, process modifications, product reformulation, chemical substitutions, or other techniques. Waste minimization refers exclusively to practices which prevent the generation of wastes. Treatment or disposal does not minimize waste and should not be reported In this section. Recycling or reuse of a toxic chemical is considered waste minimization. Waste minimization applies to air emissions and wastewater, as well as to liquid or solid mate-... 

Presently, thermodynamic data bases for environmental chemistry are far from being complete. We believe that many built-in data bases of geochemical codes that include an impressive number of data for aqueous species and solid phases for most elements may easily produce incorrect results if used without criticism. Indeed, one of the main lessons learnt during our update exercise is that completeness and reliability of the data are mutually exclusive. On the other hand, reducing the data base to a small number of best thermodynamic data severely limits its field of applicability. Thus, in order to model specific systems of fundamental relevance for radioactive waste disposal we were forced to make compromises and had to include estimated constants. 

Cumene manufacture consumed about 10 percent (2.2 billion lb) of the propylene used for chemicals in the United States in 1998. It is prepared in near stoichiometric yield from propylene and benzene with acidic catalysts (scheme below). Many catalysts have been used commercially, but most cumene is made using a solid phosphoric acid catalyst. Recently, there has been a major industry shift to zeolite-based catalyst. The new process has better catalyst productivity and also eliminates the environmental waste from spent phosphoric acid catalyst. It significantly improves the product yield and lowers the production cost. Cumene is used almost exclusively as feed to the cumene oxidation process, which has phenol and acetone as its coproducts. 

The ratio of reactants had to be controlled very closely to suppress these impurities. Recovery of the acrylamide product from the acid process was the most expensive and difficult part of the process. Large scale production depended on two different methods. If solid crystalline monomer was desired, the acrylamide sulfate was neutralized with ammonia to yield ammonium sulfate. The acrylamide crystallized on cooling, leaving ammonium sulfate, which had to be disposed of in some way. The second method of purification involved ion exclusion (68), which utilized a sulfonic acid ion-exchange resin and produced a dilute solution of acrylamide in water. A dilute sulfuric acid waste stream was again produced, and, in either case, the waste stream represented a... 

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