Contact: Mr. Cary Perket / 619-297-0321

For Immediate Release - June 29, 2004

Minneapolis, Minnesota – The number of RCRA permitted boilers and industrial furnaces (BIFs) that are actively utilizing hazardous waste for energy recovery is at the lowest it has ever been since EI Digest began surveying in 1989. The remaining 21 major RCRA BIFs are operated by manufacturers of cement and light weight aggregate and a firm involved in the regeneration of sulfuric acid.

The amount of hazardous waste fuel that is available is less than what these facilities would like to utilize for their manufacturing operations. The amount of available fuel has decreased in the last few years, reflecting, in part, the recession’s impact on manufacturing activity. The facilities have recently reported increases in the amount of nonhazardous waste fuels they have accepted to supplement their energy recovery from hazardous waste.

"One would expect that the amount of hazardous waste fuel available will improve when economic recovery is realized by higher manufacturing activity creating proportionally additional waste," stated Senior Analyst Mr. Cary Perket. "There may be some additional growth in the amount of hazardous waste outsourced by other manufacturers in the next several years as a result of new USEPA regulations on other RCRA BIFs captively operated by other manufacturers."

USEPA has recently proposed additional air pollution regulations for manufacturers that use their own hazardous waste as fuel. The new regulation would basically require the over fifty manufacturers who are permitted to utilize their own hazardous waste to meet higher air quality emissions. It is speculated that some of these manufacturers will find it more cost effective to outsource the use of their waste as fuels than invest in new air pollution equipment as has already been required of the commercial BIFs.