United States Environmental Protection Agency
Research and Development
Hazardous Waste Engineering Research Laboratory
Cincinnati, OH 45268
Gregory A. Lorton
Carl H. Fromm
Harry Freeman
EPA/600/S2-88/025 Aug. 1988
Waste minimization (WM) is fast gaining recognition as a means of contending with the nation's hazardous waste problem and other forms of environmental pollution. Opportunities exist for waste minimization throughout industry and government. The waste minimization a procedure described in the full report offers a means of determining a facility's waste situation and identifying and evaluating potential viable options for reducing waste (in addition to its availability through the National Technical Information Service, this report is being issued as a technology transfer manual, EPA625/7-88/003.)
This Project Summary was developed by EPA's Hazardous Waste Engineering Research Laboratory, Cincinnati, OH, to announce key findings of Me research project that is fully documented in a separate of the same title (see project Report ordering information at back).
Waste minimization is comprised of source reduction and recycling. Source reduction is defined as any activity that reduces or eliminates the generation of waste at the source, usually within a process. Recycling is defined as the recovery and/or rouse of what would otherwise be a waste material. Figure 1 illustrates the various categories of waste minimization techniques.
The emphasis in this paper is on "hazardous waste". However, all waste streams must be considered when conducting an assessment. This includes air emissions, wastewater, and nonhazardous solid waste. The transfer of pollutants from one medium to another is not waste minimization.
There are a variety of incentives for minimizing wastes. These include the following:
Figure 2 [(Found in Source Document)] illustrates the WM assessment procedure. The WM assessment procedure is one part of a larger waste minimization program, which is required of hazardous waste generators. Careful planning and organization precedes the assessment itself. The assessment procedure can be split into two major phases:
Careful planning and organization is necessary to bring about a successful WM program. To start the program and maintain momentum and control, it is necessary to obtain management commitment. The program should set general goals by which to measure its effectiveness. Selecting a good program staff is critical to the ultimate success of the program. Since the program is a project organization within the company, a task force provides an effective way of carrying out the program.
The assessment serves to identify the best options for minimizing waste.
Processed as a By-Product through a thorough understanding of waste-generating processes was streams and operating procedure. Therefore, the assessment task force first major tasks are to collect informal about the facility's waste stream processes and operations.
Information about the facility were streams can come from a variety sources, such as:
Collecting waste stream data a constructing mass balances will create basis by which the assessment task a track the flow and characteristics of waste streams over time This will useful in identifying trends in was generation and will also be critical in task of measuring the performance implemented WM options later. Result of the activity is a catalog of was:
In addition to data about waste streams, other information is needed to fully understand the facility's operations. This includes the following items.
The assessment team must include people who are familiar with the area of the facility to be assessed. Including first line operators and production supervisors is recommended. These people may or may not already be on the assessment program task force, (in a large facility, the task force should have a broad understanding of the facility's operations, while the assessment learn should have a specific understanding of the areas to be assessed). It may be advisable to include people from other parts of the facility that regularly interact with the areas to be assessed.
Although collecting and reviewing data is important in the assessment, the assessment team must be familiar with the actual operation at the site. To do this requires that the assessment team visit the site during the various stages or cycles of an operation. If all of the assessment team members work at the facility (or are located relatively close by) it is easy for the team members to visit the site. However, if one or more members are from outside of the facility, it is recommended that a formal site inspection be carried out.
The formal inspection serves to resolve all questions raised during the review and to complement that information already obtained and reviewed earlier. The inspection also confirms whether or not the facility actually operates in the way it was originally intended to. This inspection concentrates on understanding how the wastes are generated.
The assessment team should "walk the line" from the beginning of the process to the point where products and wastes leave the facility. Since waste can be generated in receiving and storage areas as well as the production areas, all areas within the site should be visited. The following guidelines will help in organizing an effective site inspection:
Following the collection of data during the assessment preparation step and the site inspection, the members of the assessment team will have begun to identify possible ways of reducing waste in the assessed area. The generation of options is both a creative and analytical process. While the individual assessment team members may be able to suggest many potential WM options on their own, the process can be enhanced by using some of the common group decision techniques, such as brainstorming. These techniques allow the team to identify options that the individual members might not have come up with on their own.
Identifying potential options requires the expertise of the assessment team members. Much of this knowledge comes from their education and on-the-job experience. Other sources of background information on potential options include the following:
A successful assessment will result in many WM options being proposed. At this point it is necessary to identity those options which offer a real potential to minimize waste and reduce costs. The screening Procedure serves to eliminate those suggested options that are perceived as marginal, impractical, or interior, without the detailed and more costly feasibility study. The procedures for screening these options can range from an informal decision made by the assessment program manager or a vote of the assessment team, to a weighted sum method that combines relative weights of such factors as operating cost reduction, capital cost requirement, reduction in waste hazard etc.
Some options (such as procedural changes) may involve no capital costs and can be implemented quickly. The screening procedure should account for the ease of implementation for an option. If such an option is clearly desirable and indicates a potential cost savings, it should be considered for further study or outright implementation.
In screening the options, the assessment team determines what the important criteria are in terms of the WM assessment program goals and constraints, and the overall corporate goals and constraints. Examples of criteria that can be used include the following:
The WM options that are successfully screened in the assessment step then undergo a more detailed feasibility analysis. The feasibility analysis is not unlike that carried out for any new project within most organizations. However, there are some important characteristics to consider when evaluating waste minimization projects that are not necessarily considered with other types of projects.
The purpose of the technical evaluation is to be sure that the option will really work as intended, and whether it can be implemented with specific facility constraints and product requirements. Typical criteria for the technical evaluation include the following:
The economic evaluation is carried out using the standard measures of profitability, such as payback period or discounted cash flow techniques (internal rate of return and net present value). Each company uses its own economic evaluation procedures and criteria for selecting projects for implementation. In performing the economic evaluation, various costs and savings must be considered. As in any project, the cost elements can be broken down into capital costs and operating costs.
Capital costs for WM projects are similar to most other projects. These costs include not only the fixed capital costs for designing, purchasing, and installing equipment, but also costs for working capital, permitting, training start-up, and financing charges. As mentioned earlier, it is important to realize that some WM options, such as procedural or materials changes, will not have any capital costs. Also, many source reduction options have the advantage of not requiring environmental permitting in order to be implemented.
WM projects need to show a savings Operating costs to be economically effective. Operating costs and savings typically associated with WM projects include the following:
The product of a WM assessment is a report that presents the results of the assessment and technical and economic feasibility analyses. It also contains recommendations to implement the feasible options. A good final report can be an important tool for getting an attractive project implemented. The report should include not only how much the project will cost and its expected performance, but also how it will be done. Important topics to discuss include the following:
The implementation of the WM project is not unlike any other project that involves new equipment or procedures. It may be necessary to overcome inertia or resistance to change within the organization. The Commitment of management to waste minimization is important at this time.
Once the project has been implemented and operating, it is important to evaluate its performance. Is it performing as expected? if not, Should it be abandoned, or is its use still beneficial? What other potential options have been identified through the operation of this option?
The WM program should be viewed as a continuing one. As WM options are implemented, the task force should continue to look for new opportunities, assess other waste streams, and consider attractive options that were not pursued earlier. The ultimate goal is to reduce wastes to the maximum extent practical.
The waste minimization assessment offers opportunities to reduce operating costs, reduce potential liability, and improve the environment, while improving regulatory compliance. The WM assessment procedure results in a careful review of a plant's operations toward reducing wastes. The WM program task force should strive to build a waste minimization philosophy within the company. In doing so, the entire company can help to minimize waste.
Gregory A. Lorton (presently with WESTEC Services, Inc., San Diego, CA) and Carl H. Fromm are with Jacobs Engineering Group, Pasadena, CA 91101 and Harry Freeman (also the EPA Project Officer) is with the Hazardous Waste Engineering Research Laboratory, Cincinnati, OH 45268. The complete report, entitled "The EPA Manual for Waste Minimization Opportunity Assessments". (Order No. PB 88-213 004/AS, Cost $19.95, subject to change) will be available only from:
National Technical Information Service
5285 Port Royal Road
Springfield, VA 22161
Telephone: 703-487-4650
The EPA Project Officer can be contacted at:
Hazardous Waste Engineering Research Laboratory
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Cincinnati, OH 45268
Last Updated: January 16, 1996