Tag: recycling

Nebraska Recycler Placed in SVEP After Fatality

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) on August 4 announced that Mid-Nebraska Disposal is facing $337,903 in proposed penalties and has been placed in the agency’s Severe Violator Enforcement Program (SVEP) following a worker fatality. Agency investigators found that a 20-year-old worker was feeding cardboard waste into a baler on February 7, 2022, when […]

Ask the Expert: Recycling Oil Drums

In our latest installment of Ask the Expert, brought to you by the team of industry experts at EHS Hero®, we look at a recent question from a subscriber asking about the requirements for recycling oil drums. See what the experts had to say. Q: Are empty totes and drums that had oil but are now […]

Is It Recycling? ‘Advanced’ Recycling Dispute Continues

In September 2021, the EPA published advance notice of proposed rulemaking, soliciting information and requesting comments to assist in the potential development of regulations for pyrolysis and gasification units that are used to convert solid or semi-solid feedstocks to useful products such as energy, fuels, and chemical commodities. The units are currently classified as waste […]

EPA Seeks Battery Recycling and Labeling Information

The EPA published a request for information (RFI) in the Federal Register on June 9, 2022, to develop “best practices with respect to the collection of batteries to be recycled, as well as establishing a program to promote battery recycling through the development of voluntary labeling guidelines for batteries and communication materials for battery producers […]

U.S. Faces Uphill Battle Against Plastic Waste

More than 2 years after China instituted its National Sword policy, which banned the import of most forms of plastic waste for recycling, the United States has yet to implement environmentally friendly approaches to managing these materials.

Motor Oil

Recyclable Used Oil: Avoiding PCB Contamination

In a 2018 fact sheet, the EPA discussed the persistent problem of oil contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) getting inadvertently mixed with recyclable used motor oil. Based on the Agency’s experience with mixing incidents, the fact sheet summarizes best management practices (BMPs) that both oil collection centers and recyclers can use to ensure that PCB-contaminated […]

10 Tips for LQGs for Inspecting Hazardous Waste Tanks

LQGs are those that generate either 1,000 kilograms (kg) or more of hazardous waste or more than 1 kg of acutely hazardous waste a month. Note: 1 kg = 2.2 pounds (lb) 100 kg = 220 lb 1,000 kg = 2,200 lb What’s a Tank? Although the answer may seem fairly obvious, there has been […]

8 Tips for Reporting Your P2 Activities

While it is our contention that in this day and age most facilities are engaged in some sort of P2 to reduce chemical use and waste production, as we reported in yesterday’s Advisor, only 16% of all TRI facilities reported their P2 activities for reporting year 2013. The EPA would like to up that percentage […]