Nevada Small Business Development Center
Business Environmental Program
WHY IS USED ANTIFREEZE A CONCERN?
During use, antifreeze is circulated throughout the engine coolant system and comes into contact with various metal parts. Recent studies conducted by the American Society for Testing and Materials determined roughly 40 percent of waste antifreeze samples were hazardous waste due to elevated levels of lead. Evidence suggests that lead contamination is from contact with the soldering seals of the radiator. If used antifreeze is mixed with other wastes such as used oil, the entire mixture may need to be disposed of as hazardous waste. Keeping your wastes segregated will increase your disposal options and reduce your disposal costs. DON'T MIX WASTE ANTIFREEZE WITH ANY OTHER WASTES.
HOW DO I DISPOSE WASTE ANTIFREEZE?
Before you can properly store or dispose of waste antifreeze, you must determine whether it is a hazardous or non-hazardous waste. You can either assume that it is a hazardous waste and dispose of it as such, or you can submit a sample for laboratory analysis. REMEMBER, if you are going to dispose of the waste antifreeze as non-hazardous, you must. be able to provide analytical documentation showing that it is non-hazardous. The waste antifreeze sample should be tested by the Toxicity Characterisfics Leachate Procedure (TCLP) for Lead. The cost for this test ranges from $53.00 to $125.00 (as of March 15,1993].
Some laboratories in the Reno/Sparks area include:
Chemax Laboratories, Inc. (355-0202)
High Desert Laboratories (355-0202)
Nevada Environmental Laboratory (348-2522)
Sierra Environmental Monitoring, Inc. (857-2400)
Some laboratories in the Las Vegas area include:
Met-Chem West (368-1082)
Nevada Environmental Laboratorv (657-1010)
Vegas Analytical (365-1201)
Additional laboratories can be found under "Laboratories- Analytical" in the yellow pages. We encourage you to shop around when selecting a laboratory. If the TCLP laboratory results indicate lead is present in the waste antifreeze at a concentration of 5 milligrams per liter (mg/1) or greater, the waste antifreeze is considered a hazardous waste. Again, if you do not want to pay to have a waste analysis performed, your only other option is to assume it is a hazardous waste, and dispose of it accordingly.
HOW TO DISPOSE OF WASTE ANTIFREEZE THAT IS HAZARDOUS WASTE
You can either purchase an antifreeze filtration and/or distillation unit for on-site recycling, hire a vendor to perform on-site recycling of your waste antifreeze using leased equipment, or hire a licensed hazardous waste disposal firm to transport your waste to a licensed antifreeze recycling, treatment, and disposal facility. If you recycle your waste antifreeze on-site, you will recover antifreeze for future usage, reduce the amount of hazardous waste generated at the facility, reduce hazardous waste transportation and disposal costs and reduce long term liability associated with off-site hazardous waste management. An up front captial investment of $2,000 to $6,000 for a recycling unit can have a short payback period when disposal costs and purchases of virgin antifreeze are drastically reduced. Spent solids from the recycling process are likely to contain greater than 5 mg/l lead and should be handled as hazardous waste unless laboratory results indicate otherwise.
Companies that sell antifreeze recycling equipment include:
BG:CASCO, Temple Hills, Maryland
Bob Crovato, (800) 327-8883;
Finish Thompson, Inc., Automotive of Nevada
2901 S. Highland #1Ob
Las Vegas, NV 89109
Bob Seltzer, (702) 791-0177
Re-Neva Auto & Paint Supply
935 S. Rock Blvd.
Sparks, NV 89431
Don Ellis, (702) 331-2886;
Robinair
Reno Area: Greenfield Enterprises (702) 849-1488
Las Vegas Area: Cap Warehouse (702) 642-0616;
Solar Division of Centurv Mfgr. Co., Don Green Saies
9255 Penn Ave. South,
Minneapolis, MN 55431
Northern Nevada: (209)474-7764
Southern Nevada: (714) 879-6062
Companies that provide on-site antifreeze recycling with mobile equipment include:
A-1 Antifreeze Recycling, Reno, NV
Mr. John Schuster, (916)587-6818 or (702) 689-0722 (pager)
Antifreeze Recycling Services of Nevada (ARSON)
1224 Western Ave., Ste. D-2
Las Vegas, NV 89102-2534 (702) 382-0363
Antifreeze that is determined to be hazardous waste should only be picked up for transport by a licensed hazardous waste transporter, manifested, and delivered to a facility licensed to recycle antifreeze. Hazardous waste haulers can be found under 'Waste Disposal- Hazardous Waste" in the yellow pages. In order for antifreeze to be recycled, it should not be mixed with waste oil, spent solvent, mop water, gasoline, diesel fuel, etc. Remember, if waste antifreeze is not being handled or disposed of according to the regulations, the liability comes back to the generator of the antifreeze.
Licensed antifreeze recycling facilities include:
Antifreeze Environmental Service Corp.
East Palo Alto, CA 94303, (415) 325-2666;
PRS, Inc.
Salt Lake City, UT, (801) 973-2220.
HOW TO DISPOSE OF WASTE ANTIFREEZE THAT IS NOT HAZARDOUS WASTE
If you generate waste antifreeze and it does not exceed 5 mg/1 lead under the TCLP analytical test, it still must be disposed of properly. It cannot be dumped on the ground, and in most cases it cannot be put down the drain or disposed of at the local solid waste landfill. You can recycle the waste antifreeze on-site with a filtration and/or distillation unit or contract with a firm that recycles waste antifreeze either at your facility or off-site. If the waste antifreeze is not considered hazardous waste, you do not need to use a manifest when shipping the waste antifreeze for recycling nor does the waste count toward your hazardous waste generation.
NOTE: The above listing of vendors and manufacturers involved in laboratory analysis and antifreeze recycling is provided for informational purposes only This list is provided as a service to Nevada businesses in order to assist them with properly handling their wastes. The listing of these businesses is not to be construed as actual or implied endorsement of the products or services. Additionally, other business which provide similar products and services may not be listed; this omission is not to be construed as an actual or implied denouncement of those businesses.
This fact sheet was developed by the Business Environmental Program of the Nevada Small Business Development Center with funding and position development provided by the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection.