Chemical Waste Consultants

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Chemical waste presents serious problematic issues for industrial businesses that use chemical solvents to clean and degrease manufactured products in order to achieve a fine surface finish. For one, chemical waste can be quite dangerous to people and to the environment, contaminating soil, water supplies, even the air everyone breathes, which can lead to serious, long term health issues. No matter how much preventive measures an industrial organization puts in place to try to prevent chemical waste from happening, accidental spills and leaks eventually occur. In other words, chemical waste, no matter how hard an industrial organization tries to prevent it from taking place, can be viewed as inevitable.

One of the main problems associated with chemical waste is industrial organizations are attacking the problem at the wrong place. Instead of stopping chemical waste from happening before beginning the processes that lead to chemical wasting, industrial companies try to insulate the issue with methods after the chemical solvents are already at work cleaning and degreasing products. Businesses that rely on chemical solvents to clean and degrease raw materials need to change to a process that prevents chemical waste from the onset. In other words, use a system of cleaning and degreasing where no chemical waste is ever produced, such as vapor degreasing methods. If you are finding that no matter what you try to implement as a chemical waste reducer, it still is rendered ineffective, and your company is using liquid chemical solvents, then perhaps it is time to transition to a vapor degreaser.

If your industrial organization is relegated to a liquid chemical cleaning solvent, then switch to an eco friendly, green alternative chemical solution that, should there be any chemical seepage, spillage, or leakage, ensures no harm will come to the location where the waste occurs. Moreover, cleaning and degreasing systems now exist that enable an industrial business to recycle chemical solvents while in use. That means that any runoff of chemical solvent can be trapped, captured, reclaimed, and reused for the next cleaning and degreasing service that will take place in the near future.

There are options for not just reducing, but eliminating chemical waste. However, many industrial companies do not have knowledge of chemical waste prevention methods. This is where having a chemical waste consultant available to educate industrial businesses of prevention methods is absolutely necessary. Ecolink employs chemical waste consultants to help industrial organizations become aware of how chemical waste occurs, and to implement systems that significantly reduce, and sometimes altogether eliminate chemical waste. Chemical waste consultants at Ecolink has played a vital role in lowering the overall amount of chemical waste that occurs at industrial facilities by informing those companies of the available methods and systems that effectively limit the amount of waste produced during cleaning and degreasing processes. The successful campaigning of chemical waste reduction could not be accomplished without the guidance and support from Ecolink’s professional chemical waste consultants.

Tips to Reduce Chemical Waste

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The reduction of chemical waste is important for several reasons, including the enabling of optimum efficiency of resource usage, minimizing all of the negative impacts on health – both to the environment and to people, eliminating negative associations that stem from chemical waste, and reducing the need for disposal, which the disposal process can sometimes lead to chemical spills and leaks. The following will provide tips on how to best reduce chemical waste, which, if followed systematically, can eliminate many of the hazards that stem from chemical waste.

Chemical product or chemical processing substitution: Because of watchdog companies like Ecolink, chemical substitutions are available that replace dangerous chemical solvents that are used for parts cleaning and degreasing with eco friendly, green alternative chemicals that eliminate all known threats associated with older chemical ingredients, but will still clean and degrease an industrial part as well as any chemical solvent. In addition, industrial businesses should take a look at the cleaning and degreasing process it has in place for the cleaning and degreasing of industrial components. Much more efficient processes are available that eliminate the chemical waste issue regularly seen with older cleaning and degreasing processes. Please evaluate how much chemical waste your current cleaning and degreasing process is producing, and allow a company like Ecolink to help your business transition to a much safer cleaning and degreasing process that eliminates chemical waste.

Incorporate chemical recycling methods: Mentioned in the previous tip is the ability to substitute a dangerous chemical cleaning process with a better version. Updated methods of chemical cleaning and degreasing include the ability to capture, reclaim, and reuse chemical solvents during the cleaning process. By doing so, this type of recycling process neutralizes the dangers of chemical waste by altogether eliminating any chance of chemical wasting. By recycling chemical solvents, the solution can be used for future cleaning and degreasing processes.

Chemical segregation: Industrial businesses should never allow hazardous chemical to come anywhere near non hazardous chemical. Doing so could corrupt the non hazardous chemical, because any mixing of these chemicals will always make the non hazardous chemical into a hazardous chemical. First, allow Ecolink to evaluate your chemicals in order to find safer alternatives, so your business does not even need to have harmful chemical anywhere on the premises. And, if for whatever reason hazardous chemical must be kept on the grounds, implements methods of chemical segregation that ensures hazardous chemicals can never be mixed into non hazardous chemicals.

Proper housekeeping conducted in your industrial facility: Industrial organizations that use chemicals for parts cleaning and degreasing purposes should always maintain a precise inventory of its chemicals. Avoid purchasing in bulk volumes, and prevent long stays of unused chemical solvents in your facility. Both of these scenarios have proven to increase the likelihood of chemical waste because industrial businesses with too much chemical cleaning product and solvents that have been sitting in a warehouse too long will decide to use too much product because it has too much in supply.

Simple Ways to Reduce Industrial Chemical Consumption

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Concerning chemical consumption, the goal for industrial businesses and other types of industries the use chemicals for a number of reasons and purposes are to effectively minimize the amount of consumption when possible. Moreover, an additional goal should be to find, discern, and execute the utilization of eco friendly, green alternative when available. Ecolink acknowledges that there is no such thing as the perfect chemical, or chemical cleaning substitute. However, chemical cleaning substitutes exist that enable ways to drastically reduce and practically eliminate hazardous toxins and pollutants that come from chemical cleaning solvents. Industrial businesses must be cognizant and proactive in locating and transitioning to alternative chemical cleaners that reduce the amount of harm that can emanate from many types of cleaning solvents.

Ecolink has designed what is called a “hazard ladder” that rates environmentally preferred choices as it pertains to the chemical consumption of an industrial organization. This hierarchy of proposed methods and choices should serve as a foundation for evaluating alternative cleaning and degreasing components for a given chemical application. The following will list, in order, the most preferred to the least preferred choices regarding altering your company’s chemical consumption for the better:

Avoid the need to clean – Although Ecolink recognizes how difficult this would be to accomplish, finding methods of keeping your parts, metals, components, and raw materials from getting dirty or covered in inhibiting filth in the first place is the best way to reduce your industrial organization’s chemical consumption.

Modify the part or contaminant – Non solvent based cleaning methods and technologies exist, such as water based cutting fluids and no-clean flux, which have proven to clean and degrease raw materials quite effectively.

Use high pressure water or water based cleaners – similar in idea to the second choice, higher pressure and water based cleaners are nonflammable and non-halogenated, making for a much safer parts cleaner.

Use terpene, aliphatic hydrocarbon, and dibasic esters – Very similar to preferred method number three, these types of parts cleaners and degreasers are also nonflammable and non-halogenated, making the technology a much safer alternative to other chemical cleaners.

Use alcohol and acetone – Though it is a flammable solvent, these types of chemical cleaners do not deplete the ozone in any way, and present a low halogenated alternative to most other kinds of chemical cleaners.

Use HFE and HFC blends – A step below the previous suggested alternative, at least HFE and HFC blends, though halogenated, are non ozone depleting.

Use N-Propyl Bromide and TCE – Very similar in relation to the previous step, nPB and TCE at least in no way deplete the ozone, although they are halogenated.

Ecolink manufactures custom blended chemicals that are just as effective and are eco friendlier alternatives to many of the chemicals above. Contact our professionals today to discuss options, or shop our products here.

Is your Company Buying too many Chemicals?

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The purchasing of excess chemical cleaners by industrial businesses is a trend, and also a serious problem that needs to stop as soon as possible. Why? Research and test results have proven that excess, or the bulk purchasing of chemical by industrial organizations is one of the leading causes of chemical waste in the United States. Bulk chemical purchasing also leads to an increase in chemical spills and accidents, environmental contamination, and health risks associated to overexposure of chemical products. All of these named problems that result from the bulk purchasing of chemical solvents could lead to serious consequences – scenarios from which an industrial business might never recover. The consequences occurring from bulk purchasing is why organizations such as Ecolink are spreading the word to industrial businesses that alternative choices exist that no longer require companies in need of chemical solvents to purchase excess solutions.

The first scenario industrial organization need to look into is incorporating a recycling program that enables industrial facilities to capture and recycle for later use the chemical solvents that, for any of a number of reasons, are lost or not utilized during parts cleaning operations. Rather than chalking up lost chemical solvents as merely ‘that’s just the way it is,’ industrial companies need to do something about it, since it has become an occupational hazard due to all the risks associated with chemical waste. Installing a chemical recycling system is a direct solution to combating the problems of chemical waste, and the problems that arise from that waste. Recycling chemical waste also empowers industrial businesses with a solid way to save on money, as the company will not have to purchase nearly the amount of chemical solvents it used to before implementing a recycling program. Instead, you reuse the chemical solvents that would have otherwise been lost. So now, your industrial business is utilizing programs that make your workers and facilities, as well as the environment safer, and you are, at the same time, saving your business a lot of money.

Another way to reduce the amount of chemicals your industrial company is purchasing is to enter an accord, or contractual obligation with chemical suppliers that offer such a unique deal. With a contract in place, such as the one Ecolink offers to its customers, your business only needs to purchase the amount needed, because the supplier knows you are only purchasing chemical products directly from them. Suppliers that do not have a contract with a customer, or do not offer contracts, force customers to purchase in bulk, or in large quantities, in order to extract maximum revenue from the deal. This method is only opportune for the supplier, and not for the customer, because the customer ends up overspending for chemical solvents that will either sit on the shelf for so long it may expire, or will wind up being tossed out as chemical waste. The latter scenario can be disastrous, as this blog has already discussed.

Where Does Chemical Waste Go?

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chemical wasteFor as much as most human beings waste chemicals and products, you would think there would be more of a general concern regarding where exactly all the waste that human beings produce goes. The sad part is, if you asked people where chemical waste goes after it has been used, dumped, or discarded, most people probably would not be able to answer the question. The following information will provide a bit of insight as to where exactly our chemical waste goes after it has been disposed of, which should create quite an alarm for anyone who reads this blog post.

The truth is, if companies and people do not use a direct chemical waste disposal business that properly handles the disposing of chemical waste, much of the chemical waste that gets discarded ends up in the environment – polluting the soil, our water systems, and even the air you breathe. If you go through a legitimate chemical waste disposing company, then it will be taken to a safe location, or perhaps even back to the company’s central facility for safe storage and handling until it can be shipped off site, reused, and/or recycled, depending on the type of chemical waste being moved. The final disposition of the chemical waste can vary. The good news is that many of the waste streams can be recycled, and even some of those streams can be used for fuel.

What should cause concern and incite alarm is some of the other methods of chemical waste disposal, such as offsite incineration, which merely turns the chemical waste into a gaseous state and still releases toxins into the atmosphere. Another frightening concept is that some chemical waste is placed in hazardous waste landfills. recycle chemicalsWhy are chemical waste landfills such a terrible idea? Even though the idea is that the chemical waste seeps into the ground, it is in a controlled environment. Unfortunately, this could not be any further from the truth. Evidence shows that, even in a controlled landfill, chemical waste will continue to seep deep into the soil, which can spread, and even find its way into water systems and in areas where plants and vegetation have been planted in that soil.

The mere fact that the last two methods of chemical waste disposal use unsafe measures should be reason alone that all of us, and every single company that uses chemical products, makes sure that we take every step that concentrates on reducing chemical waste throughout our entire country. Ecolink can help you, and businesses that use chemical products, identify, and strategize ways to recycle, reuse, and reduce chemical waste. The unsafe disposal of chemical waste is a serious matter, and is it fortunate that we have a company like Ecolink that can help us find eco friendly, green alternative measures that will prevent or reduce chemical waste.