Fact Sheet: Common Pollution Prevention Opportunities in Industrial Cleaning

A pollution prevention fact sheet listing Pollution Prevention Opportunuties that are commonly found in the industrial cleaning processes.

#2 Common Pollution Prevention Opportunities

The following are Pollution Prevention Opportunities commonly found in industrial cleaning processes. The list is not intended to be comprehensive and different opportunities will exist in each facility.

• Option #1
  
• Option #2
  
• Option #3
  
• Option #4

Process Elimination

• use easy-clean or no-clean flux rust inhibitor, machine oils etc.
  
• stop part from getting dirty
  
• purchase clean input stock
  
• proceed with soiled parts

Process Substitution

• use blast cleaning instead of solvent
  
• use brushing, wiping, etc.

Input Material Substitution

• use aqueous cleaner
  
• use low vapor pressure solvent
  
• use less toxic solvent
  
• replace sand with less toxic blast media

Waste Reduction

• use lids on solvent cleaning vessels
  
• use air-lock vapor degreaser
  
• use low vapor pressure solvent
  
• reduce drafts to minimize evaporation

In-Process Recycling

• reuse rinse water in wash bath; use dirty wash water as pre-wash
  
• skim/filter and reuse aqueous cleaner
  
• use solvent still to recover used solvent
  
• reuse blast cleaning media

Out-Process Recycling

• use dirty solvent in other processes
  
• use waste heat to heat cleaning bath

Waste Segregation

• segregate solvents to allow recycling
  
• keep solvents out of used oil
  
• keep fuel, brake fluid, etc. out of solvents
  
• keep solvents out of aqueous cleaners

Maintenance/Housekeeping

• use secondary containment for solvent storage
  
• maintenance program to prevent leaks

Procedures/Scheduling

• eliminate unnecessary cleaning steps
  
• increase drain time to reduce dragout
  
• orient parts to reduce dragout

Equipment Layout/Piping/Automation

• install sliding lids on solvent tanks
  
• install automatic parts lift on vapor degreaser
  
• use drain racks to reduce dragout
  
• install rotating racks to drain parts

1. Introduction
   
2. Common Pollution Prevention Opportunities
   
3. Using Aqueous Cleaners
   
4. Evaluating Cleaning Liquids
   
5. Aqueous Cleaner Additives
   
6. Terpene Cleaners
   
7. Dry (Non-Solvent) Cleaning
   
8. New Cleaning Solvents
   
9. Hydrocarbon Cleaners
   
10. Cleaning Equipment
    
11. Vendors of Cleaners & Equipment

For additional information, contact the:

Pollution Prevention Program
c/o the State of Florida Department of Environmental Protection
2600 Blair Stone Road
Tallahassee, FL 32399-2400 or
call 904-488-0300 (fax 904-921-8061), or
- in the Jacksonville area, call 904-448-4300
- in the Tampa area, call 813-744-6100.