USA – waste definitions revisited

On March 15, 2007, the US EPA issued a new proposal restructuring the 2003 Definition of Solid Waste proposal. The new proposal streamlines regulation of hazardous secondary materials to encourage beneficial recycling and help conserve resources. By removing unnecessary controls, recycling these materials will not only be safe, but also easier and more cost-efficient.



The October 28, 2003 proposal provided an exclusion from the definition of solid waste for hazardous secondary materials that are generated and reclaimed in a continuous process within the same industry. The Agency received numerous comments disagreeing with our approach. In response to these comments, EPA reexamined the issues, new data, and new analyses, and has presented those in the 2007 proposal.



Exclusions are proposed for the following:





Materials that are generated and reclaimed by the same generator

Materials that are generated and transferred to another company for reclamation under specific conditions

Materials that EPA deems non-wastes through a case-by-case petition process.



The proposal also defines legitimate recycling activities. Defining legitimate recycling ensures that only authentic recycling, and not treatment or disposal under the guise of recycling, receives the benefits of streamlined regulations. In order to be legitimately recycled, the:





material must provide a useful contribution to the recycling process

recycling must make a valuable new product.



In addition, the recycled material must be managed as a valuable product, and must not contain toxic constituents at significantly greater levels than non-recycled product.



No changes are proposed for recycled materials that are:





considered inherently waste-like

used in a manner constituting disposal

burned for energy recovery



Any materials managed in these ways must still comply with the federal hazardous waste regulations.



EPA estimates about 4600 facilities handling over a half million tons of hazardous secondary materials annually may be affected by this proposed rule. The industry sectors that could be most affected are:





chemical manufacturing

coating and engraving

semiconductor and electronics manufacturing

pharmaceutical manufacturing

the industrial waste management industry.