EI
Environmental Information Ltd.
Contacts:
Karl Joyce Cary
Perket
952/831-2473 858/488-4760
Minneapolis, MN & San
Diego, CA —Commercial hazardous waste fuel blenders are in the business of
making mixtures that can be utilized as fuel in industrial boilers and furnaces
such as those utilized in the manufacturer of aggregate and cement as well as
the recycling of sulfuric acid. There are over 80 facilities providing
hazardous waste fuel blending services in the United States.
Of the over 1 million tons
that is annual utilized as hazardous waste fuel in the United States, about 75%
is managed through fuel blending facilities. This number includes hazardous
waste fuels that are owned and operated by companies that operate commercial
hazardous waste boilers and furnaces, often referred to as “BIFs.” Two of the
top three leading hazardous waste fuel blenders, Rineco of Benton, Arkansas and
Philip Services Corporation, are independent hazardous waste fuel blenders. The
other member of the top three is Giant Resource Recovery which operates
commercial BIFs.
“Many of the companies
doing fuel blending today have their ‘roots’ in solvent recovery,” stated EI
Researcher Karl Joyce. “They evolved into fuel blenders when the chlorinated
solvents that they used to recycle were phased out and replaced with less
valuable solvents in terms of their cost as virgin chemicals. Some of solvent
recovery facilities are now reporting increased interest in recycling these
less valuable solvents due to the fact that the “virgin” solvent costs have
increased.”
Approximately half of the
fuel blending facilities participated in the recent research survey conducted
by Environmental Information Limited. Collectively, the group reported lower
volumes than the previous year. The principle reason for this is the economic
recession causing lower demand for manufactured goods, which it turns causes
lower waste generation. However, sector business leaders also observed that the
current recession has led to permanent closure of some manufacturing
activities, with the manufacturing now being done overseas.
“The post-recession
prospects for the hazardous waste fuels market are very good,” stated EI Senior
Analyst Cary Perket. “We base this more from the standpoint that the ultimate
BIF users of the fuel have reduced their needs to levels that are in reasonable
balance with the overall market supply. We also expect the post-recession
economy to return fuel availability by most of the four percent they have
declined since the beginning of the current recession.
This
report appeared in the EI Digest:
Hazardous Waste Marketplace, a business research report that covers
hazardous waste management issues.
Further information of the EI
Digest can be found on the web (www.envirobiz.com), one of the Internet’s
leading sites for environmental business research. Based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Environmental Information, Ltd.
(EI) specializes in research on the environmental services and technology
marketplace. For further information on
the EI Digest, contact customer service at 952/831-2473.
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