As a cabinet manufacturer we generate a significant amount of spent acetone/stain. Being an EPA generator we follow the 90 day storage rule, however we have a solvent still that we use to reclaim acetone. My question is - should I continue to label all barrels as haz waste knowing that I will later recycle them? Or could I label them “acetone to be recycled” thus extending or avoiding the time limits?

Specific citations if available would be appreciated.

 

 

Setzold,

If you follow the flowchart in 40 CFR 260 Appendix I, it seems to indicate that the waste becomes a RCRA solid waste then a RCRA Hazardous waste then is not regulated under Subtitle C. Subtitle C covers the RCRA regulations.

 I would label the containers "Acetone to be recycled - Not subject to RCRA subtitle C regulations". Keep a copy of you decision logic readily available.

Also, check the state regulations or with your regulators. There may be specific state rules.

MikeCJ

P.S. If you are sending the waste offsite for recycling that may affect your 90 day storage requirement.

You also need to be sure you do not engage in speculative accumulation.  In general, a material is considered speculatively accumulated if it is being accumulated without having a known recycling market or disposition, or no feasible means of recycling, and during a one-year calendar period, 75 percent of the material is not recycled, or transferred to a different site of recycling.

The point about checking with your state solid waste office is also very important.  States have the authority under RCRA to issue regulations that are more stringent (never less stringent) than the fed.

.

If anyone was curious this what I got from KSU PPI:

 This turned out to be more complicated than I thought! It sounds as if you are storing the drums in your hazardous waste storage area (as opposed to satellite storage area). The spent acetone/stain/paint needs to be managed as hazardous waste, meaning yes, you must label as "Hazardous Waste" and you must put an accumulation start date.

Thanks all for the help!

 

I'm not sure I get it.  If you put this material in a different area, removed from any area where hazwaste is stored, is it then not regulated?  That would seem like a simple solution.  But the response you got seems to suggest that a whole range of materials that are not hazwaste become so if they are co-located with hazwaste.

I would do some more research into this if I were you....satellite accumulation areas refer to a location that knows no time limits but once the container is full the expectation is that it will be moved to official waste storage. And I may be wrong, but if you place your (drums?) into the hazardous waste storage area and then label them as such....then treat/recycle them onsite, you are actually then treating hazardous waste which requires a special license as a TSDF would hold. I don't have the answer, but make sure you get the right one.I have seen individuals at some companies get in quite a bit of trouble for similiar situations that were not handled correctly..... and good luck, let us know how it goes.

As someone else said, check with your State regulators as they may be more stringent than the Feds.  However, here is how I believe it should be handled.

1.  You have a solid waste when the material is spent and must be reclaimed prior to reuse.  If it is a solid waste, you must designate it and it will certainly designate as a Haz Waste due to ignitability.

2.  You must now manage this haz waste under all the appropriate rules for your generator status including labeling, accumulation start date, storage locations, weekly inspections, and tracking of amounts generated and on hand,  etc.  until it is no longer a haz. waste.

3.  If you distill the waste, once it is distilled, you can delete the recovered amount from your annual waste generation totals (this may be important for yoru P2 planning), and remove this much waste from your amount on hand for accumulation purposes.  Of course, any still bottoms must be designated and will likely be a haz waste so they must be added into your waste generation and properly managed etc.

4.  In Washington, it makes sense to distill the waste as soon as possible as they also give you a break on the generation status.  For example if you work 20 days a month and generate 10 gallons of haz waste a day, in a month you have generated 200 gallons of haz waste and would exceed the lbs/month for a CESQG generator (100 gal * 8.34 lb/gal * .70 spg = approx 659 lbs).  However, if you distill this every day, you only generate 10 gal of waste before it is recycled by distillation or approx. 66 lbs.  You only have to count the maximum lbs generated prior to distillation for your generator status so in this case you would be a CESQG generator and not have to meet all the additional requirements for a SQG or LQG generator.  Depending on the amounts of other haz waste you generate, this may be beneficial to you.  Also, if you can set up a system so the distillation is continuous, (you distill the used acetone as soon as it is generated and the product is returned via hard piping to the virgin solvent tank), you can avoid ever calling this a haz waste. (apart from the still bottoms of course.)