If you work somewhere that uses commercial chemical products such as acids, solvents, degreasers, and cleaners, it’s important to handle them in a responsible way. Your chemical supply materials are important for business, but it’s also important that they are not abandoned to potentially cause harm to employees or property. Fires, spills, leaks, and explosions are all potential consequences that you want to avoid. Because of that, the United States EPA has certain rules around them.
What Constitutes Abandonment?
If you are burning, incinerating or discarding part of your chemical supply, it turns into solid waste and is considered to have been abandoned. The same applies to commercial chemical products that were stored or treated prior to abandonment. You have to determine if the chemical constitutes hazardous waste and, if so, properly manage it according to regulations.
Are Expired Commercial Chemical Products Solid Waste?
Expiration dates on chemicals are placed by the manufacturer and are similar to the best-by dates that you may find on food products. This means that as long as you use the chemical before that date, the manufacturer guarantees that it will do its job properly and efficiently. You are not required to discard the chemicals by that date. However, you do need to consider how your operation procedures are written. If your procedure states that you will dispose of chemicals before the expiration day, you are naming it a solid waste on your own. That applies even if it’s in a box on a shelf somewhere.
Avoiding Chemical Products Becoming Solid Waste
When you treat your commercial chemical products as commodities, it’s likely they do not quality as abandoned and are considered products. You should always be sure to avoid making an inspector believe that one of your chemical products has no value. This may be the case if the containers are dusty, corroded, leaking, open, crushed, or otherwise damaged.
When a commercial chemical product has been processed and reclaimed to recover a usable component or when they are stored in anticipation of recycling, they are not solid waste.
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