GravurExchange Newsletter – February 2023

“Accurate waste determinations are the cornerstone of proper waste management. If a hazardous waste is misclassified as non-hazardous, a host of regulatory issues ensues.” According to Mike Ellenbecker, Hazardous Waste Program Coordinator with the State of Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, the foundation on which hazardous waste compliance is built consists of a thorough understanding of generated waste streams. Depending on the nature of the hazards, mischaracterizing a waste stream can result in superficial to catastrophic failures. The most devastating outcomes can result in the loss of life or irreparable damage to the environment.

The waste determination process is also compromised when non-hazardous waste is mistakenly identified as hazardous. Gary Jones, Director of Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) Affairs at Printing United Alliance, explains “Improperly classifying non-hazardous waste as hazardous can create regulatory burdens that are unnecessary and costly.”

If a company has never experienced an unannounced hazardous waste compliance inspection the prospect may seem daunting, but these inspections follow a predictable path that can provide the company with an opportunity to evaluate and improve their waste management efforts. During an inspection, department compliance specialists examine waste streams and the associated waste determinations to ensure that hazardous waste is properly characterized, handled, accumulated, transported, treated, and disposed of. When a company’s waste determination process is flawed, it can lead to areas of non-compliance and in some cases, enforcement actions. To strengthen your waste management program, it is valuable to have an awareness of both the common stumbling blocks that businesses experience and a knowledge of the available resources.

To protect both workers and the environment, the hazards of each generated waste must be well understood and communicated. Companies that rely solely on the expertise of third parties such as consultants, brokers, transporters or treatment, storage and disposal facilities (TSDFs) run the risk of waste mischaracterization and potential compliance issues as the regulatory responsibility for waste determinations resides solely with the generator. Companies should not assume that their waste hauler or TSDFs test every hazardous waste stream or that these third parties can identify unknown hazards. Often, TSDFs only test parts of incoming loads for limited parameters or characteristics. This disconnect can create hazardous conditions for the generator, the transporter and the TSDF.

For example, a facility may assume their Flexo Computer-to-Plate printing operations are ecofriendly and do not generate hazardous waste. This presumption fails to consider the plate development process that generates a waste stream with a pH above 12.5, making it a corrosive hazardous waste. Conversely, a printing operation that switches to a wash solvent with a flashpoint above 140°F may continue to refer to an outdated waste determination that characterizes the spent solvent as ignitable (i.e., flashpoint below 140°F). This mischaracterization of waste can affect a hazardous waste generator’s regulatory status. Over-classification of waste as hazardous could result in a facility operating under more regulatory requirements than necessary while under-classification could result in a facility not operating in compliance with the required regulation of their actual generator status, not to mention creating hazards for workers and others. A thorough understanding of the waste determination process is the first step in building a structurally sound waste management program.

 There are five key steps in the waste determination process which include:

1. Identify all waste streams.
2. Determine whether each waste stream is a solid waste.
3. Determine if each solid waste is excluded from regulation as a hazardous waste.
4. Determine whether each solid waste is a hazardous waste.
5. Document the information and decisions made in steps 1-4.

The waste determination process falters when any of the steps are skipped or misinterpreted. Early in the determination process, confusion about what meets the definition of a solid waste can lead to an incorrect waste determination. This step is important because if the material in question is not solid waste, it cannot be hazardous waste. Note that the definition of solid waste does not refer to the physical form of the waste. A “solid” waste can be a solid, liquid or containerized gas.

Another challenge can arise when researching the hazards of a waste by relying on Safety Data Sheets (SDS). For example, while conducting a waste determination for a spent developer, the SDS for the developer is reviewed. The SDS indicates that the pH of the developer is 13. With this information, the printing operation assumes that the spent developer also has a pH above 12.5, and the spent developer is characterized as a corrosive hazardous waste. This determination process fails to consider that the pH of the spent developer may be lower than the pH identified on the SDS for the unused product. When using a calibrated pH meter to conduct representative sampling it is discovered that the pH of the spent developer is below 12.5. In fact, this waste stream is not a corrosive hazardous waste.

Keeping waste determinations up-to-date is challenging when process changes that can affect the waste streams are not evaluated or documented well. When contemplating a change, a best management practice would be to keep the person responsible for compliance in the loop to ensure that waste determinations continue to be accurate. For example, if the pressroom elects to switch to a solvent wash with a lower flashpoint, the possible health and safety implications need to be weighed prior to the change and a waste determination will need to occur that takes the change into account. It is difficult to implement a successful a waste management program when waste streams change or emerge without the knowledge of compliance personnel.

To strengthen the waste determination process, there are several resources available. For a detailed discussion of the waste determination and recordkeeping process, refer to the guidance document: Waste Determinations & Recordkeeping (wi.gov)  A detailed resource for printing operations continues to be the Printers | | Wisconsin DNR , which outlines environmental compliance and sustainability resources specific to the printing industry. A recent addition to the portal includes a fillable waste determination checklist. While completion of the checklist is not a regulatory requirement, it provides a helpful tool to clearly document and communicate the determinations for each waste stream. Additionally, it is recommended that facilities retain the evaluation and associated documents for all waste determinations regardless of whether the waste is determined to be hazardous or non-hazardous.

 An accurate and complete set of waste determinations provides a solid foundation for the proper management of hazardous waste, and the correct identification of the applicable requirements. Facilities enjoy the benefits of improved occupational safety and environmental health outcomes, and the resulting efficiencies provide cost savings.

The PDF can be downloaded:

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