Corporate Strategy And Actions For Reducing Hazardous Waste Disposal...
Transcript of Corporate Strategy And Actions For Reducing Hazardous Waste Disposal...
CORPORATE STRATEGY AND ACTIONS FOR REDUCING HAZARDOUS WASTE DISPOSAL REQUIREMENTS
Ral ph D. Gro te l ueschen Manager, Environmental Control
Deere & Company Moline, I l l i n o i s
Deere & Company i s a d i v e r s i f i e d manufacturer o f John Deere fa rm, i n d u s t r i a l and consumer product equipment. t h a t are assembled i n t o a f i n a l machine, a wide d i v e r s i t y o f hazardous wastes i s managed. Operations such as m e l t i n g scrap i r o n t o make cast ings, e l e c t r o - p l a t i n g and metal f i n i s h i n g are h i s t o r i c a l l y known t o c rea te hazardous waste. However, Deere & Company has reduced i t s hazardous waste disposal a c t i v i t i e s 80 percent by "volume" and over 99 percent by " l e v e l o f r i s k " through two key ac t i ons :
Since we make 98 percent o f t h e components
1. Development o f a comprehensive corporate hazardous waste management s t ra tegy , and
2. Const ruc t ion o f a l i q u i d hazardous waste t reatment f a c i l i t y capable of produci ng nonhazardous s l u-dges.
Why a Waste Reduction Program
The i n i t i a l problem f a c i n g Deere & Company was t h a t c e r t a i n l i q u i d hazardous wastes cou ld n o t be t r e a t e d i n convent ional i n d u s t r i a l wastewater t reatment f a c i l i t i e s c o n s i s t i n g of o i l skimming, l i m e p r e c i p i t a t i o n and s o l i d s removal. Therefore, they had t o be disposed i n a l a n d f i l l . E a r l y reviews i n 1971 w i t h t h e I l l i n o i s and Iowa Geological Surveys es tab l i shed t h a t t he re are geo log i - c a l fo rmat ions t h a t a re very impermeable w i thou t the problem o f geological f a u l t s and t h e r e f o r e should be s u i t a b l e long-term d isposa l s i t e s . However, t h e f o l l o w i n g problems convinced us o f t he need t o i n i t i a t e i n v e s t i g a t i o n s t h a t r e s u l t e d i n t h e need t o r e v i s e our waste management s t ra teg ies :
1. Waste management f i r m s were having more d i f f i c u l t y w i t h t i m e l y p ickup o f l i q u i d wastes.
2. The number o f s u i t a b l e waste disposal s i t e s was decreasing.
3. Disposal costs were outpacking i n f l a t i o n -- i n c r e a s i n g a t a r a t e o f 25 percent per year.
4. The p u b l i c was expect ing b e t t e r con t ro l o f hazardous wastes w h i l e r e s i s t i n g t h e p e r m i t t i n g of any new s i tes .
5. The procedural requirements t o t r e a t , store, haul and dispose o f hazardous waste were d r a i n i n g scarce management resources t h a t could be more e f f e c t i v e l y used t o "e l im ina te t h e problem."
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methods are being devised f o r mon i to r ing e f f l u e n t s . I n aqd i t ion , next gener-
Th is mind set -- t o
co-existence and regu la to ry
a t i o n technologies are being evaluated i n technology approaches t o wastewater cleanup s ion o f t o x i c chemicals i n i n d u s t r i a l apply s ta te -o f - the-ar t technology t o waste and guarantee t h e American Pub1 i c t h e means t o o f our i n d u s t r i a l complex and t h e necessary
s i t u conver- process con t ro l -- w i l l
s t ruc tu re .
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Development o f Comprehensi ve Waste Management S t ra tegy
The impact o f t h e above problems on Deere & Company was q u a n t i f i e d and repor ted t o t o p management. Force charging i t w i t h f o u r goals:
They responded by forming a Hazardous Waste Task
1. Develop op t ions f o r es tab l i sh i ng a comprehensive hazardous waste s t r a t e g y a t each u n i t .
2. Def ine degree o f hazardous waste t reatment t h a t should be conducted and which u n i t s should be involved.
3. Define programs t h a t w i l l assure c e r t a i n t y o f compliance.
4. E l i m i na te hazardous waste disposal requi rements as much as possible.
The importance o f request ing and r e c e i v i n g top management support cannot be understated. f y i n g c u r r e n t s t r a t e g i e s and t h e i r d i r e c t i o n i n i n i t i a t i n g t h e task fo rce , emphasized t h e need f o r quick, d e c i s i v e act ion.
The i r reac t i on t o the i n fo rma t ion presented i n support o f modi-
A t y p i c a l long-range p lann ing process (LRPP) was i n i t i a t e d by the task f o r c e (Table 1). However, t h e problem d e f i n i t i o n process was expanded so t h a t t he r e l a t i v e b e n e f i t o f " con t ro l t h e process1' cou ld be considered be fore any "waste t rea tment " o p t i on. However , s i~nce a yood de f i n i t i on o f hazardous waste does no t e x i s t , we chose t o manage " r i s k " i n a d d i t i o n t o the term "haz- ardous waste." As a r e s u l t , 28 d i f f e r e n t types o f wastes were i n v e n t o r i e d by t ype o f manufactur ing a c t i v i t y , source, q u a n t i t y generated, degree o f r i s k , and cu r ren t t reatment o r disposal a c t i v i t y . As d e t a i l e d i n t h e LRPP of Table 1, a c t i o n then focused on developing op t ions and a f i n a l s t r a t e g y t h a t would minimize each u n i t ' s hazardous waste disposal requirements. A p r i o r i t y o f des i rab le a c t i o n was developed. Emphasis was placed on d e f i n i n g op t ions t h a t would reduce waste generat ion a t t h e process s ince t h i s de terminat ion would become t h e d r i v i n g fo rce i n d e f i n i n g t h e s i z e and k i n d o f waste t reatment f a c i l i t i e s we would have t o manage -- an o v e r l y l i b e r a l al lowance o f waste from var ious processes would r e s u l t i n construc- t i o n o f t reatment f a c i l i t i e s t h a t may be unnecessary o r t o o l a r g e and hence an un fo r tuna te d r a i n on corporate resources. F i n a l l y , i t was considered e s s e n t i a l t o use a con t inu ing p lann ing process and t h e r e f o r e goals be estab- l i s h e d w i t h appropr ia te measurement t o o l s t o eva lua te performance and c o n f i r m f u t u r e needs. a c t i v i t y .
A s a r e s u l t o f c a r e f u l process and f a c i l i t y evaluat ion, we f e l t most hazard- ous waste d isposa l a c t i v i t i e s could be e l im ina ted by developing s t r a t e g i e s i n t h e f o l l o w i n g f i v e areas:
Cur ren t l y , we are on t h e second i t e r a t i o n o f t h i s p lann ing
1. Rev is ion o f manufacturing procedures so as t o minimize hazardous waste generation.
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2. Research and develop methods t o d e t o x i f y hazardous waste.
3. Const ruc t ion and i n t e r f a c i l i t y use o f a s ing le , h igh technology l i q u i d waste t reatment f a c i l i t y t o produce a nonhazardous sludge w h i l e meeting e f f l u e n t standards.
4. Use o f vendors f o r so lvent reclamat ion a c t i v i t i e s .
5. Continued a u d i t o f our hazardous waste management a c t i v i t i e s t o assure e f f i c i e n t progress i n reducing and e l i m i n a t i n g t o x i c ma te r i a1 s .
Since 1980, Deere has already reduced hazardous waste disposal a c t i v i t i e s by a f a c t o r o f 80 percent (F igure 1) . We expect a 98 percent reduc t ion i n hazardous waste volumes by t h i s t ime next year as w e l l as an 80 percent reduc t i on i n l i q u i d wastes.
Cons t ruc t i on o f a L ic lu id Hazardous Waste Treatment Faci 1 i t y Capable o f Produci ng Nonhazardous S1 udge
John Deere personnel designed and devel oped an i n t e g r a t e d wastewater t r e a t - ment f a c i l i t y w i t h t h e f o l l o w i n g c a p a b i l i t i e s :
1. Reclaim o i l from 15 t o 60 percent o i l / w a t e r mixtures.
2. Treat concentrated heavy metal wastes.
3. Produce a sludge t h a t i s not t o x i c by t h e RCRA e x t r a c t i o n procedure.
The f a c i l i t y was designed from bench sca le chemical t reatment s tud ies and an in -depth waste survey a t each o f t he John Deere Waterloo f a c t o r i e s . f a c i l i t y can t r e a t over 2 m i l l i o n ga l lons per year o f t h e f o l l o w i n g hazardous wastes: e l e c t r o p l a t i n g sludges, spent e l e c t r o p l a t i n g baths, p a i n t i n g wastes, c a u s t i c p a i n t s t r i p p i ng wastes, ko l ene s l udge from c a s t i ng c l eani ng, spent p i c k l i ng ac ids , a1 umi num condi t i oner, c a u s t i c c l eaners , and m i sce l 1 aneous ac ids and a l k a l i n e wastes. Also, 1,380,000 ga l l ons per year o f waste o i l s and o i l / w a t e r mix tu res can be t r e a t e d such t h a t o i l i s reclaimed and e i t h e r s o l d t o an o i l r e c y c l i n g f i r m o r reused f o r machining processes.
This
Th is f a c i l i t y i s computer operated f o r t r a n s f e r r i n g , t r e a t i n g and b lend ing var ious waste streams. It has several i n t e g r a l fea tures i nc lud ing :
1. Storage tank complex capable o f segregat ing and ho ld ing one week's accumulation o f each waste stream.
2. A ba tch p l a n t capable o f processing 7,500 ga l l ons o f heavy metal bea r ing wastes and 6,000 ga l l ons o f o i l / w a t e r waste per batch.
3. Microprocessor con t ro l f o r each treatment process.
4. Chemical feed systems f o r needed processing.
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5, Batch t h i c k e n i n g and precoat vacuum f i l t r a t i o n dewatering o f s l udges .
6. Reclaim o i l storage f a c i l i t y .
7. Process c o n t r o l l abo ra to ry t o monitor l i q u i d e f f l u e n t s and process e f fec t i veness .
Not on l y has t h e p r a c t i c e o f l a n d f i l l i n g o f l i q u i d s been reduced, bu t those wastes which were considered hazardous according t o Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) t o x i c i t y c r i t e r i a are rendered nonhazardous by t h e t rea tment process
P r o j e c t Background
John Deere's Waterloo opera t ions i nc lude f o u r major f a c i l i t i e s : Engine Works, John Deere T rac to r Works, John Deere Component Works, and John Deere Product Enyi nee r i ng Center. Among t h e f i r s t t h r e e f a c i 1 i t i e s , 1 arge q u a n t i t i e s o f l i q u i d wastes associated w i t h pa in t i ng , e l e c t r o p l a t i n g and machining have been disposed o f i n l a n d f i l l s s ince they were t o o concentrated w i t h s o l i d s and heavy metals t o be success fu l l y t r e a t e d i n a convent ional wastewater t reatment p l an t ,
John Deere
I n view o f t he above s i t u a t i o n , Deere and Company i n con junc t ion w i t h t h e John Deere Components Works undertook a study t o de f i ne a l t e r n a t i v e ways t o manage these wastes. The ob jec t i ves o f t he study were t o de f i ne economical ways t o reduce waste volumes and t o x i c i t y and t o ma in ta in compliance w i t h a p p l i c a b l e regu la t i ons -- notab ly t h e Clean Water Act and t h e Resource Con- s e r v a t i o n and Recovery Act (RCRA). o b j e c t i v e , t h a t any hazardous wastes could be rendered nonhazardous by t h e recomnendatons from t h e study.
It was hoped, bu t not i n i t i a l l y a p r o j e c t
System Development
Processes which generate l i q u i d wastes were looked a t as poss ib le areas where volumes cou ld be reduced.
A survey o f f a c t o r y processes generat ing wastes a t each Waterloo f a c i l i t y was a l s o conducted t o d e f i n e waste sources and volumes and the f u l l range of waste c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s requi r i n g some form o f management. Wastes 1 i k e l y t o be c l a s s i f i e d as hazardous wastes were a p a r t i c u l a r concern.
Major emphasis was placed on bench sca le i n v e s t i g a t i o n o f chemical t reatment techniques t o rec la im waste o i l s and t o n e u t r a l i z e and d e t o x i f y wastes iden- t i f i e d i n t h e survey. concentrates o f 3 t o 10 percent so l i ds . Typ ica l analyses o f wastes i n v e s t i - gated showed presence o f cadmium, chromium, cyanide, copper, l ead and zinc.
Numerous j a r t e s t s were conducted on p l a n t waste streams i n var ious cornbina- t i o n s w i t h p l a n t waterwal l p a i n t spray booth wastes, d i l u t e metal wastes, ace ty l ene genera t i on s l udge, and metal p a r t s p repara t ion acids and a1 k a l i s.
These were p r i m a r i l y p a i n t i n g and e l e c t r o p l a t i n g waste
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Waste o i l s were tes ted f o r Peclamation p o s s i b i l i t i e s us ing bench t e s t chemi- c a l t re tmen t techniques. Sludges generated by successful chemical t reatment methods were checked f o r f i l t r a t i o n p roper t i es us ing Buchner funnel and l e a f t e s t s . The f o l l o w i n g step-wise chemical t reatment sequence proved successful i n deal i ng
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.
w i t h heavy metal wastes such as those f r o m processes.
D i l u t i o n o f concentrated waste w i t h d i l u t e wastes B1 ending wastes Ad jus t i ng pH o f mix tu re Reduct ion o f hexavalent chromium Coagul a t i on Ad jus t i ng pH o f r e s u l t i n g mix tu re F1 ocul a t i ng S e t t l i ng
The procedure i s a l t e r e d t o i nc lude a l k a l i n e c h l o r i n a t i o n when cyanide i s present. Typ ica l bench t e s t r e s u l t s were:
I n f 1 uent E f f 1 uent % Removal
pH - Un i t s 11.7
Chromium - mg/l 620
Lead - mg/l 46 0 Z inc - mg/l 1,800
Cadmium - mg/l 0.1
Copper - mg/l 4.5
7.2 0.01 1.21 0.21 1.66 3.25
-- 90 99.8 95.3 99.6 99.8
By December 1981, we were aware t h a t process con t ro l could d ramat i ca l l y reduce waste volumes so t h a t t h i s fac i 1 i t y could process metal -bear i ny wastes f o r a l l Nor th American f a c t o r i e s operated by Deere & Company. However, the l ead and chrome content o f some waste had increased t o 60,000 ppm and 17,000 ppm, r e s p e c t i v e l y -- t h e r e s u l t o f a process change t o d ramat i ca l l y increase t h e l i f e o f working mater ia ls . Treatment o f t h i s waste was s t i l l successful i n p r o v i d i n g a s a t i s f a c t o r y e f f l u e n t . However, t he r e s u l t i n g sludge was EP t o x i c f o r l ead and chrome.
Research was brought t o bear on t h i s problem. t h e t reatment system was developed t h a t improved e f f l u e n t q u a l i t y and produced a nonhazardous sludge as shown i n t h e f o l l o w i n g tab le :
An economical m o d i f i c a t i o n t o
HAZARDOUS WASTE TREATMENT
EP T o x i c i t y Chemical I n f l uent New J7X Old Lime PPTN Ep T o x i c i t y L i m i t s
Zn - mg/l 200 1 43
Cd - mg i l 5 0.2 5
Pb - mg/l 1250 2 70 CR - mg/l 400 3 6
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Waste o i 1 was found t o be recoverable us ing commercial l y avai 1 ab1 e emu1 s i on breakers, polymers and cooking aids. Cooking o f waste o i l a t 18U"F f o r 12 hours a f t e r a d d i t i o n o f emulsion breaker and an ion i c polymer provided a good q u a l i t y reclaimed o i l . Acid a d d i t i o n was a l so b e n e f i c i a l i n some t e s t s .
System Design
Bench t e s t r e s u l t s were used t o develop process f l o w diagrams fo r both o i l r e c l amat i o n (F igure 2) and concentrated heavy metals waste t reatment (F ig - u r e 3 ) . These f l o w diagrams show t h e var ious waste storaye tanks and chemi- c a l feed systems required. The t i e - i n p o i n t s o f t h i s t reatment f a c i l i t y t o an a1 ready e x i s t i n g continuous f l ow i n d u s t r i a l wastewater pretreatment p l a n t a re a l so shown. The continuous f l ow p l a n t t r e a t s d i l u t e o i l y wastes, hexa- va len t chromium wastes and cyanide wastes f o r subsequent e f f l u e n t discharges i n t o t h e c i t y p u b l i c l y owned treatment works. t h e new f a c i l i t y cou ld be t r e a t e d t o a l e v e l e i t h e r : (1) compatible f o r ad- d i t i o n a l t reatment i n t h e continuous f l o w treatment i n d u s t r i a l wastewater pretreatment p l a n t , o r (2) s u i t a b l e f o r d i r e c t d ischarge t o t h e s a n i t a r y sewer.
Concentrated wastes t r e a t e d i n
The design concepts considered necessary f o r t h i s f a c i l i t y were: f l e x i b i l - i ty, r i go rous process con t ro l , maximum waste volume reduct ion, and emergency response. Const ruc t ion occurred between A p r i l 1980 and A p r i l 1981.
The r e s u l t i n g f a c i l i t y design was completed i n January 1980.
The f a c i l i t y has t h e f o l l o w i n g fea tures :
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Storage tank complex capable o f segreyat i ng and hol d i ny one week's accumulation o f each waste stream. The segregated tankage provides f l e x i b i l i t y i n opera t ion and al lows f o r downtime f o r repa i rs .
A ba tch t reatment p l an t capable o f processi ng 7,500 gal 1 ons metal bea r ing wastes and 6,000 ga l l ons waste o i l per batch. Batch t r e a t - ment provides t h e needed f l e x i b i l i t y i n dea l i ng w i t h a wide range o f waste c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s r e q u i r i n g var ious chemical t reatment techniques . Process c o n t r o l l abo ra to ry capable o f mon i to r ing l i q u i d e f f l u e n t s and treatment process e f fec t i veness .
Microprocessor con t ro l o f waste blending, t r e a t i n g and t r a n s f e r r i n g opera t ion . Computer c o n t r o l a1 lows continuous mon i to r ing waste l e v e l s , motor opera t ion and treatment process. l a b o r a t o r y t r e a t a b i l i t y bench t e s t s i s assured and i s use fu l i n mai n t a i n i ng records requi red by RCRA.
Exact d u p l i c a t i o n o f
Chemical feed systems au tomat i ca l l y c o n t r o l add i t i ons o f l ime, acid, polymers and a l l o the r chemicals used.
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6. Batch t h i c k e n i n g and diatomaceous ea r th precoat vacuum f i l t e r dewater ing o f sludge. Precoat f i l t r a t i o n was se lected as the most f l e x i b l e sludge dewater ing a l t e r n a t i v e as it i s most i n s e n s i t i v e t o feed sludge s o l i d s and type, prov ides h igh q u a l i t y f i l t r a t e , requ i res no b e l t wash water, achieves maximum s o l i d concentrat ions and requ i res no chemical cond i t ion ing .
Overa l l Performance
Three years o f experience has demonstrated the f a c i l i t y can:
1. Produce a reclaimed o i l f o r about 30$/gal lon.
2. Treat concentrated heavy metal wastes a t a cos t 15 t o 30$/gal lon.
3.
4.
Treat d i l u t e heavy metals a t a cost o f 4Q/gal lon.
Cons is ten t l y produce a nonhazardous sludge by EP t o x i c i t y .
A 1982 a u d i t o f t he f a c i l i t y i n d i c a t e d the t o t a l cos t o f cons t ruc t i on was $1.9 m i l l i o n and t h e r e t u r n on investment (1980 l a n d f i l l i n g cos ts ) was 40 percent . Deere & Company c u r r e n t l y has a pa ten t pending on the process and i s w i l l i n g t o l i c e n s e i t s use t o o the r i ndus t r i es .
Summary
Current technology and p l anni ng procedures can reduce a company's hazardous waste d isposa l requirements. A p o s i t i v e a t t i t u d e , imay ina t ion and c r e a t i v i t y a r e t h e pr imary c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s needed t o achieve a favorab le r e s u l t . How- ever, f rom a s t r u c t u r a l management approach, Deere & Company has found t h e f o l l o w i n g approach b e n e f i c i a l :
1. Secure Top Management Support 2. 3. Develop U n i t S t ra teg ies 4. Set Goals 5. Aud i t Q u a r t e r l y 6. Conf i rm/Revise Strategy
Commitment To a Long-Range Plan
A hazardous waste t reatment f a c i l i t y coupled w i t h the above long-range p lan- n i ng approach he1 ped Deerre reduce i t s hazardous and 1 i q u i d speci a1 waste d isposa l requirements 80 percent i n th ree years.
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TABLE 1
LONG-RANGE PLANNING PROCESS
1. Def ine Probl em/Process
O
O Type o f Waste O Q u a n t i t y O Degree o f Risk O Current Disposal P rac t i ce
Cont r i but i ng Process
2. Develop Options
Process Modi f i c a t i ons 1. 2. Mate r ia l S u b s t i t u t i o n 3. Chemical Screening
Extend L i f e o f Working Ma te r ia l s
O Treatment 1. Chemical T rea tmen t /De tox i f i c t i on 2. O i l Reclamation 3. Sol vent Recl amat i on
O Dispose O I n c i n e r a t i o n
3. Def ine Corporate F a c i l i t i e s Ava i l ab le t o Implement Options
4. R A D
a. Def ine Needs b. Imp1 ement Program
5. Def ine Strategy/Factory Plan
O A1 t e r n a t i ves a. Process, Mod i f i ca t i ons b. Recycle c. Treat /Detox i fy d. Dispose
O Devel op Recommendat i ons O Set Goals O Imlement Plan o f Ac t ion
6. Audi t
O Def ine Measurement Plan O Evaluate Q u a r t e r l y O Conf i rm/Revi se Strategy
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