Manufacturers Ship 7 Million Tons per Year
to Commercial Hazardous Waste & Wastewater Facilities
Vast Majority of Manufacturers Outsource Hazardous Waste Management
Contact: Mr. Cary Perket / 619-297-0321
For Immediate Release - June 21, 2004
Minneapolis, Minnesota – Environmental Information Limited, in a recently released EI Digest market report, estimates that US manufacturers send approximately 7 million tons per year of hazardous waste and wastewater to commercial disposal, energy recovery, recycling and treatment facilities. This estimate was developed in a multiyear effort by examining biennial reports submitted by manufacturers who are large quantity generators of hazardous waste.
The study is based on the examination of biennial reporting of over 20,000 large quantity hazardous waste generators and independent research done by Environmental Information Limited. Almost all the large quantity generators relied upon outsourcing their hazardous waste and wastewater management to commercial facilities. Small quantity generators are accounted for in the estimate through independent research done by EI Digest.
"Outsourcing is the logical alternative for most manufacturers because commercial facilities have economies of scale that make them more affordable," stated EI Senior Analyst Mr. Cary Perket. "Typically only manufacturers who generate very large volumes can justify the cost of their own captive hazardous waste management facility."
The notable exceptions to this outsourcing involved aqueous waste, or wastewater. Over 1,000 manufacturers treat hazardous wastewater at the manufacturing facility by ‘conventional wastewater treatment’ which is primarily regulated under the Clean Water Act. In addition, large quantities of aqueous waste are captively managed by underground injection on the manufacturing site property.
The EI Digest report, Estimated Hazardous Waste & Wastewater Management Market in the United States, was released in June 2004. Additional information regarding the EI Digest’s reports and Environmental Information Limited can be found on Envirobiz.com.