Division of Pollution Prevention and Environmental Assistance Industrial Assistance Section John Burke

On-site Technical Assistance  Free  Non-regulatory  Multimedia (air / water / solid waste)  Areas of assistance –Achieving compliance –Reducing waste management costs –Increasing production efficiency –Developing environmental management systems

Conducting a Solid Waste Reduction Assessment Section 3 page 65

Steps  Preparation  Opening meeting  Walk through  Closing meeting  Final report  Follow-up

Assessment Preparation  Obtain summary information –What company does and major solid waste issues  Request attendees for opening meeting –Environmental manager, production manager, and maintenance manager  Background research on industry –Online research (p2pays.org references)

Background Information  Monthly tonnage  Monthly tipping fee  Monthly hauling fee  Monthly rental fee  Solid waste containers – #, size, and average tonnage  Labor costs (waste handling)  Current recycling/reuse program data  Scrap rates and purchasing data

Cost of Waste $1.443 million a year

Waste Management Hierarchy Source Reduction Direct Reuse On-site Recycling Off-site Recycling Treatment & Disposal

Assessment Preparation  Obtain summary information –What company does and major solid waste issues  Request attendees for opening meeting –Environmental manager, production manager, and maintenance manager  Background research on industry –Online research (p2pays.org references)

Opening Meeting  Facility layout and operations overview  Current recycling programs and solid waste management programs –Is there a waste reduction team or other team? –How are employees trained and informed? –Is there an employee suggestion program? –Are there goals established?  Review of cost data  New projects or failed projects related to waste reduction

Walk Through  Consider starting out with “dumpster dive” and tour of recycling area.  Follow flow of material through production from receiving to shipping.  Request supervisor of department to provide overview.  Approach employees for specific areas where waste are generated or handled.  Look in recycling and disposal containers

Walk Through  Consider starting out with “dumpster dive” and tour of recycling area.  Follow flow of material through production from receiving to shipping.  Request supervisor of department to provide overview.  Approach employees for specific areas where waste are generated or handled.  Look in recycling and disposal containers

Material Receiving / Storage / Shipping  Practices that cause damage or spoilage  Opportunities for to reduce, reuse or recycle packaging –Packaging redesign –Bulk containers for high use materials –Reuse of pallets, boxes, sacs for in plant distribution or shipping –Packaging return programs

Case Study  Packaging redesign –Company: Eagle Snacks, Robersonville –Product: snack foods (potato ships, nuts) –Problem: costs for packaging materials –Solution: reduce layers of bags from 5 to 3 reduce thickness of steel cans –Savings:500 tons / yr of plastic 225 tons / yr of steel

Material Receiving / Storage / Shipping  Practices that cause damage or spoilage  Opportunities for to reduce, reuse or recycle packaging –Packaging redesign –Bulk containers for high use materials –Reuse of pallets, boxes, sacs for in plant distribution or shipping –Packaging return programs

Production  Waste generated from start-up, shut down, change-over.  Waste generated from continuous operations edge trim, machining, etc.  Locations and labeling of recycling containers.  Handling of off-spec materials  Monitoring of waste volumes (80/20 rule)  Identify “True Cost of Wasting”

Case Study  Production waste –Company:Synthetic paper manufacturer –Problem:1.4 M lbs of product waste / yr –Causes:Poor training, operational control - Savings:Revenue increases of +150,000/yr for 25% reduction in wasting

Production  Waste generated from start-up, shut down, change-over.  Waste generated from continuous operations edge trim, machining, etc.  Locations and labeling of recycling containers.  Handling of off-spec materials  Monitoring of waste volumes (80/20 rule)  Identify “True Cost of Wasting”

The Cost of Waste  Raw Material  Labor  Disposal  Waste Handling –Physical –Administrative

Truck Liner Manufacturer Rooney, Charles “Economics of P2: How Waste Reduction Pays”. Pollution Prevention Review, Summer pounds 2% loss allowance 4.96 pounds - 2 parts 0.10 pounds waste 2.30 pounds2.66 pounds

Pressed Plastic Parts Material 93.5% Disposal 3.5% Labor 3% 4.30 million/yr Cost of Waste 2.75 million/yr Cost of Plant Labor Rooney, Charles “Economics of P2: How Waste Reduction Pays”. Pollution Prevention Review, Summer 1993

Other Areas  Cafeteria/break rooms –Food waste handling –Utensils –Recycling containers  Office Areas –Purchasing specifications –Recycling containers

Other Areas  Disposal  Laboratory  Production maintenance  Vehicle maintenance  Quality control / assurance  Utilities (boilers, compressors)  Bag houses  Waste treatment

Closing Meeting  Praise existing programs and efforts at waste reduction.  Discuss areas where the team sees potential for improvements opportunities.  Request additional information that will be required to develop report.

Final Report  Provide description of operations  Develop best estimate of waste stream analysis and associated cost  Develop true cost estimates for selected waste streams  Discuss technologies and techniques for reducing or reusing waste streams  Provide listing of markets for recycled materials

 Improve winding operation to reduce wasted fiber through training and awareness or increased automation.

 Reduce processing aids through process modifications and increased controls

Steelfab  Fabricates and coats structural steel  Potential liability and new air permits  Reduced coatings by 50% and used three coatings on 95% of orders  Trained estimating engineers and purchasing agents on benefits of using selected coating systems.  Required approval of environmental personnel prior to issuing bid

Steelfab  Reduce VOC/HAP emissions  Reduce coating system change-outs /cleanup  Reduce use of MEK  Reduce production time and man-hours  Reduce training requirements for painters  Reduce purchasing requirements and problems dealing with multiple coating suppliers  Lower total contract costs to customers