Technical assistance for hazardous-waste reduction Minnesota is conducting a program for industries in the state
ta’s hazardous-waste generators. The legislature adopted this recommendation in an amendment to the Waste Management Act in 1984 (2). That same year, the Waste Management Board gave a grant to the University of Minnesota’s Division of Environmental and Occupational Health to establish a technical assistance program in hazardous-waste management. The program has come to be known as the Minnesota Technical Assistance Program (MnTAP).
Fay M. Thompson Cindy A. McComas Universiry of Minnesota Minneapolis, Minn. 55455
In 1980 the Minnesota legislature passed the state Waste Management Act in response to a growing recognition that solid- and hazardous-waste problems needed far more government attention than they had received in the 11%
Envimn. Sci. Technol.. Val. 21, NO. 12. 1987
past. This act established the MiMeSOta Waste Management Board (WMB), a state agency with planning, but not regulatory, authority in the area of solid and hazardous waste. A major objective of the Waste Management Board is to reduce the generation of waste (I). To achieve that goal, the WMB prepared a statewide hazardous-waste management plan that included a recommendation for a technology transfer program, funded by the state, to provide assistance to Minneso-
Administration of the program The MnTAP program is staffed by four full-time professionals and several part-time clerical employees. Professional staff members have graduate degrees in chemistry, technical communications, and environmental science, as well as experience in industry. MnTAP utilizes a large number of technical resources available at the university. The board’s interest in and commitment to technical assistance is demonstrated by the level of funding provided. The first year of the program was funded at $150,000, the second year at $200,000, and the third (current) year at $280,000. In addition, a two-year, $100,000 cooperative agreement has been established between EPA and MnTAP to support research projects related to the hazardous-waste management needs of small-quantity generators. Services offered by hlnTAP
The goal of providing assistance to generators is pursued in a variety of ways. MnTAP offers telephone and onsite consultation, a waste reduction resource bank, information dissemination, a student intern program, and research awards for waste reduction
0013-938W8710921-11154~1.5010 @ 1987 Amencan Chemical Society
projects (3). Telephone consultation. The first contact between MnTAP and a hazardous-waste generator usually is made by telephone. MnTAP maintains a toll-free number for access from anywhere in the state. The majority of calls (more than 1400 during 1985, 1986, and the first nine months of 1987) come from various manufacturing and metal-finishing industries (Le., painting and coating, circuit board production, and plating); such calls are likely to be related to solvents, waste paints, and plating sludges. The most common areas of assistance encompass current waste management needs, waste reduction opportunities, and regulatory compliance. MnTAP frequently can answer the generators' questions on the spot, but its staff also will study more difficult questions and get back to the generator with a response. Generators may use the telephone services of MnTAP without identifying themselves if they wish to remain anonymous. This process proved to be particularly valuable in dealing with generators who were afraid that they might open themselves to regulatory pressure by asking for help. Because MnTAP is a part of a neutral organization (the University of Minnesota), the program's credibility is improved. On-site consultation. On-site visits
may be conducted at generator facilities by members of MnTAP's staff when it is determined that telephone consultation will not provide adequate assistance. An on-site visit can help MnTAF' staff identify opportunities for waste reduction and improved waste management. On-site visits also expand MnTAPs howledge of industries and their waste problems, thereby providing an improved information base for future contacts with generators. A total of 136 on-site visits have been conducted since MnTAP began its operations. Waste reduction resource hank. A principal objective of the MnTAP program is to develop a library that provides timely information on hazardouswaste reduction. The library, which is continually being expanded, provides resources in four specific areas: technical IiteraNre, information on hazardous-waste management, sources of professional assistance, and vendor equipment literature. The collection of technical literature covers waste reduction opportunities for such industries as electroplating, painting and coating, electronics, printing, plastics, and many others that are common in Minnesota. Keywords are assigned for each journal article, EPA report, or proceedings paper and are logged into a computer data base for
nforrnation and ed under this
FIGURE 1
Sample fact sheet for hazardous-waste generators
Environ. Sci. Technol., MI. 21. No. 12, 1987 1155
easy access. A paper copy of each reference also is available in the MnTAP office. Early in the operation of the MnTAP program, it became obvious that there was a need for a source of simplified information covering several areas of hazardous-waste management. As a result, a series of “Hazardous Waste Fact Sheets for Minnesota Generators” was developed to provide information on topics ranging from regulatory compliance to waste-specific treatment methods to lists of information sources. These fact sheets, such as the one shown in Figure 1, were developed by MnTAP and representatives of the state and county regulatory agencies. They have proved to be popular and have been widely distributed. The third type of information available to generators is a list of companies able to provide professional assistance. A computerized data base lists transporters, disposers, recyclers, laboratories, and consultants. It also includes brokers, used-oil haulers, circuit board recyclers, solvent recyclers, testing laboratories, and battery recyclers. The fourth major information resource is vendor equipment literature, which is classified according to the type of technology for easy access. Vendor literature is available for technologies such as solvent distillation, metals recovery, dewatering, oil-water separation, and wastewater treatment. This information is useful in responding to requests from generators, consultants, and student interns. Information dissemination. Making contact with generators is a critical factor in promoting hazardous-waste reduction. MnTAP uses many methods to reach those who might benefit from their available resources. For example, MnTAP issues a quarterly newsletter that contains information on new regulations and equipment, upcoming conferences and seminars, waste reduction tips, and other hazardous-waste-related activities. The newsletter is distributed to those on the MnTAP mailing list, which includes about 2000 Minnesota generators, trade associations, and waste management professionals. MnTAP also has developed a slide show that is presented to generators attending various seminars and conferences. The slide show, which covers MnTAP services, provides a menu of waste management options and case studies of companies that have reduced their waste through assistance from MnTAl? Newspaper coverage also has been sought whenever possible to increase the number of people who are aware of the services provided by MnTAl? During its first year of operation, 1156 Environ. Sci. Technol., Vol. 21, No. 12, 1987
MnTAP offered a series of seminars to generators and potential generators to acquaint them with the new services available and to educate them about waste reduction. Since that time, MnTAP has concentrated on industryspecific seminars that are coordinated with the objectives of the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, which regulates hazardous waste. For example, seminars that cover both regulatory requirements and waste reduction opportunities were designed for dry cleaners and auto repair shops. Such seminars are free and are offered at a number of locations around the state to reduce travel distance for generators. Minnesota’s Small Business Development Centers, a program of the U.S. Small Business Administration, has assisted in planning and promoting these seminars. Contact with trade associations also is an effective mechanism for reaching various industry groups. MnTAP has established contacts with 45 national and 20 local associations, including platers, painters and coaters, dry cleaners, newspapers, printers, electronics firms, automobile services and dealers, railroads, and plastics industries. These associations have invited MnTAP to make presentations to their members or have worked with MnTAP to distribute brochures and announce services and seminars in their newsletters. One trade association received an award from MnTAP’s research program to prepare publications on waste reduction strategies and techniques for its members. Student intern program. The objectives of the student intern program are to promote the concept of waste reduction in industry, to educate students in waste reduction processes, and to expand the resources of the MnTAP staff by having students implement and document waste reduction in plants. The program is set up to provide full-time summer employment for upper-division undergraduate and graduate students, although several of the projects have extended into the fall quarter. TWenty students have participated in the program during the summers of 1985, 1986, and 1987. SGdents are individually placed in an industrial setting, usually with a small generator. Interns work with a company representative to conduct an inplant audit; gather technical and vendor literature; evaluate product substitution, process modification and recyclereuse alternatives; do preliminary design work; assist the company with options and economic analyses; and, as a final step, implement selected recommendations. The supervision of student activities is carried out by members of MnTAP’s staff and by a team of university engineering and environmental
health faculty members, in addition to the company’s representatives. The intern program has afforded several benefits. Students have been taught the concept of waste reduction as opposed to the more traditional approach of pollution control. This experience should have an impact on their decision-making abilities, even for those students who find employment in fields other than waste management. Also, for the companies participating in the intern program, free assistance has resulted in substantial cost savings from new management techniques. In 1985, for example, the combined cost savings were estimated to be $150,000 a year in avoided disposal costs and in reduced liability for wastes that were not landfilled. Finally, the MnTAP program has benefited by being able to document examples of waste reduction achieved by companies and to use the knowledge accumulated to assist other companies with similar waste-disposal problems. Research awards. A research awards program was established to support MnTAP’s goal of waste reduction. Applications are sought from generators of hazardous waste, from trade associations, and from academic institutions. The program is supported largely through a $1OO,OOO cooperative agreement with the EPA Office of Research and Development’s Small Quantity Generator Research Program. This EPA funding is available only for research projects. The program is designed to provide small-quantity generators with new technologies for waste reduction and to scale down or find new applications for existing technologies. The maximum award available is $15,000, and the recipient must provide 50% matching funds. To achieve maximum transfer of technology, applications are evaluated for industry-wide applicability to generate information useful to more than one company; research results are considered public information. Initially, the research awards program had a low response rate, perhaps partly because of the requirement for publication of research results. Following a second request for proposals, interest in the program increased. A total of nine research projects are now under way, addressing biological detoxification of cyanide, recovery of metals from electroplating wastewaters, substitution for and treatment of chromic acid cleaner, and microscale experiments in the chemical laboratory.
Results of the program After three years of operation for MnTAP, it is appropriate to ask if the program is achieving its legislatively mandated purpose. For most of the
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goals identified at the beginning of this article, the answer clearly is yes. MnTAP has made a significant contribution toward improving waste management among small generators in Minnesota, particularly by presenting the necessary information in a format readily usable by individual generators. The number of telephone requests, tcgether with the amount of educational information that has been distributed, indicate that a large number of generators are being reached. The MnTAP program has helped overcome resistance to change by providing some of the initial information and manpower needed by small generators. It is more difficultto determine if significant waste reduction has been achieved, especially if the term waste reduction is considered in the narrow sense adopted by the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) (4).OTA interprets waste reduction as waste that is not generated (e&, an in-plant process change that results in the elimination of a waste stream). In that sense, sending a waste solvent to an external firm for recycling is not waste reduction, and many of the small-generator achievements under the guidance of the MnTAP program would not be considered waste reduction in the strictest sense. EPA adopted a broader interpretation of waste reduction in its report to Congress (5).In this report, the term waste
minimization is defined as any action that reduces the volume or toxicity of wastes, especially those that otherwise would be placed in landfills. This definition, which is in keeping with requirements set forth by the 1984 Hazardous and Solid Waste Amendments to the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, was adopted by the Minnesota Waste Management Board. Waste minimization, a more appropriate goal for waste management in Minnesota, has met with considerable success through the MnTAP program, as illustrated by the following examples: Case 1. MnTAP was contacted by a small-quantity generator who had two 55-gal drums of newly distilled methylene chloride generated from a process that seals rubber gaskets to sewer pipes. The generator had no use for the material himself. MnTAP helped the generator contact formulators of paint strippers who might be able to use the methylene chloride in their product. A user was located, and the transfer of material was arranged. As a result, 110 gal of solvent was reused and the generator avoided an incineration cost of $1200. Case 2. A large manufacturer of printed circuit boards contacted MnTAP for information on the installation of a metals recovery system. The manufacturer had been sending rinse waters from their plating operations to a pretreatment facility, where the
metals were removed as a metal-hydroxide sludge. The pretreatment process generated 40 drums of sludge per month, with a disposal cost of $200 per drum, resulting in an annual disposal cost of approximately $96,000. MnTAP gathered information from the literature, vendors, and an in-plant waste survey to assist the company in evaluating metals recovery processes. The company decided to design a metals recovery system using ion exchange and electrolytic recovery. With this new system, sludge production will be reduced to four drums per month, resulting in a 90% reduction in waste disposal costs. The estimated payback time for capital expenditures is three. years. Case 3. A cookware manufacturer contacted MnTAP to ask for help in disposing of 1500 gal of surplus unused paint that had accumulated over a period of years. MnTAP suggested either to return the paint to the supplier or to negotiate a waste exchange. The s u p plier was not interested in taking back any of the paint. Several waste exchanges were arranged, however, including a donation to the University of Minnesota’s Graphic Arts Department. The generator avoided high disposal costs, and the Graphic Arts Department benefited from the contribution. Case 4. MnTAP assisted a small precious-metal plating shop in characterizing its waste stream, identifying opporEnvimn. Sci.Technol., Vol. 21, No. 12. 1987 1157
to offer technical assistance in other areas (e.g., regulatory compliance and occupational safety and health). Table 1 illustrates the relative newness of the concept of technical assistance programs for waste reduction and improved waste management.
TABLE 1
Sampling of state hazardouswastereduction programs
Three y e a n of operation s-
JUI
4
Illinois Dept
of
I
Minnesota’s Waste Management Board has established, developed, and funded MnTAP, a program offering technical assistance to generators of hazardous waste, at the University of Minnesota. The program has completed three years of successful operation. In our view, the increasing interest in and use of MnTWs services by hazardous-waste generators has justified the belief that state technical assistance programs have an important role to play in helping generators to reduce their waste production.
Acknowledgement Before publication, this article was reviewed for suitability as an ES&T feature by Peter Ashbrook, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Ill. 61801; and Roger N. Schecter, North Carolina Ikpartment of Natural Resources and .I” Community Development, Raleigh,
^“,..
tunities for waste reduction, and installing a metals recovery system for its copper- and nickel-containing rinse waters. The company had been using conventional neutralization, hydroxide precipitation, and sludge dewatering to pretreat its rinse waters before discharging them to the sewer. The treatment process, however, was not adequate to meet current sewer discharge regulations, and the problem was about to be exacerbated by the e x p s i o n of production. Costs included a capital investment of $250,000 in equipment and process modifications and annual operating costs of $60,000. Although the estimated payback based on avoided disposal costs and reduced chemical treatment costs is long-term (approximately 10 years), the company’s wastewater discharges now are in compliance. Case 5. A small auto body shop experiencing a solvent waste problem contacted MnTAF! Its paint-thinning operations generated three to four drums of waste solvent per year. MnTAF’ recommended that the shop install a small on-site distillation unit so that the solvent could be reused for thiiing paint and cleaning equipment. Information on available units was obtained from the vendor Literature file and provided to the shop. Savings in disposal costs and in purchases of raw materials resulted in a three-year payback of the initial $1800 cost of the unit. A few years from now, it will be nec1156 Environ. Sci.Technol..Vol. 21, NO.12, 1987
essary to reevaluate the need for this program. If the program is to become permanent, its scope Probably be expanded. Currently, funding is allocat& by the state on a biennial basis. by a grant In the future, different funding options may have to be considered, possibly a waste tax or other payment from the private sector. Moreover, it is unlikely that a program designed to help generators who have little expertise or resources of their own could survive solely on user fees, but partial support for the intern program from the company receiving the assistance could be considered.
Programs in other states Several other states across the country have taken the initiative to establish programs that provide technical assistance for waste reduction. It has generallv been assumed that Dersons eneaeed in ‘state programs and activities can define waste reduction needs and solutions for industries in their own states more efficiently than federal officials
--
Can.
Table 1 presents samples of existing state hazardous-waste reduction programs other than those of MnTAF! These are some of the more established and active programs that specifically address technical assistance in waste reduction. Another 15 states have programs in some stage of development. At least five additional programs exist
N.L.L I 0 1 1 .
References (1) Minnesota Statutes 115A.02, 1980. (2) Minnesota Statutes 115A.152,1984. (3) “MnTAP Annual Report, 1986”; Minne-
sota Technical Assistance Program, University of Minnesota: Minneapolis, 1986. (4) Serious Redmion ofnmrdous Rsie;oftice of Technology Assessment. U.S. Congress: Washington, D.C., 1986; OTA-ITE-
318.
(5) “Minimization or Hazardous waste, ~ e -
port to Congress,” EPAi530-SW-86-033; ofice of Solid waste and E=mwcY Response, EPA Washington, D.C.,1986.
Fay M. Thompson (1) is assisranrprofessor of environmenral health, School of Public Healrh, and assistanr direcror of the Deparlmenr of Environmental Health and Safety, Universiry of Minnesora. She is faculty cwrdinaror for rhe MnWP project She received her Ph.D. in organic chemistryfrom the University of Minnesota.
Cindy A. McComas (r) is a scientisr in en-
vironmental health, School of Public Health, ar rhe University of Minnesota, and is direcror of the Minnesota Technical Assistance Program. She received her M.S.in environmental sciencesfrom Exas Christian University.
