INDUSTRIAL
WASTE
EXCHANGES
fact sheet
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Region V, Library
230 South Dearborn Street
Chicago, Illinois 6G6C4
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This fact sheet fSW-688) was prepared
by Rolf P. Hill of the Office of Solid Waste
U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
1978
U,S. Environmental Protection Agency
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INDUSTRIAL WASTE EXCHANGES
What is an industrial waste exchange?
Waste exchanges are based on the fact that one factory's waste can
be another's feedstock. Most waste exchanges are information clearing-
houses: they provide information about specific waste materials that
are available, and companies interested in using the wastes as raw mate-
rials are put in contact with the waste generators. Other exchanges
actually buy and sell the wastes; they have been called material exchanges.
In essence, waste exchanges are a means of fostering resource recovery
and conservation.
The first exchanges started in Europe in 1972, and the idea has
spread quickly there and in this country. At least 14 information ex-
changes and 3 material exchanges have been established in the United
States in the past few years (see list).
How do waste exchanges work?
The basic service provided by an information exchange or clearing-
house is simple and limited. Action begins when the waste generator
sends to the clearinghouse his offer of waste material which he thinks
may have value to someone else. (Similarly, a user may initiate action
by sending in his request for needed waste material.) The clearinghouse
then publishes the generator's offer, among others, in its next regular
list. The offering firm is identified only by code number. A prospective
user may then contact the clearinghouse to register his interest. When
the clearinghouse passes the user's name on to the generator, it has com-
pleted its service.
From then on, generator and user negotiate directly to discover
whether the many other requirements for a transfer, such as acceptable
purity level, price, transportation costs, and mutual confidence, are or
can be satisfied. If so, the generator will transfer the waste to the user
directly.
Thus the clearinghouse performs only limited functions to help
generators advertise the existence of waste with possible resale value,
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help users identify such waste, and refer potential partners to each other.
All other requirements for a transfer must be satisfied by others-some-
times by generators and users themselves, and sometimes by dealers or
waste reprocessors. Some active information exchanges vary this basic
pattern slightly to meet their needs and special conditions.
The services of material exchanges are more complex and expensive.
They buy or accept wastes, analyze their properties, identify potential uses,
reprocess them as needed, and sell at a profit. They transfer information
only as a courtesy to clients or in the course of paid consulting services.
Whereas an information clearinghouse needs only a part-time staff and
office space, a material exchange needs highly competent technical, mana-
gerial, and marketing skills, as well as storage and processing facilities.
Why is there growing interest in such systems today?
The costs of materials and of waste management are rising, and
industries are increasingly interested in reducing waste and making use
of waste materials where that is feasible.
One of the factors causing waste management costs to rise is the
need to meet Federal and State standards that are intended to protect
health and environmental quality. Major new regulations and standards
affecting industrial waste disposal are currently being developed by the
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency under the Resource Conservation
and Recovery Act of 1976 (RCRA). Under the authorities of Subtitle C
of RCRA, hazardous waste, which represents 10 to 15 percent of all
industrial waste, will be regulated from the point of generation through
disposal. EPA or State agencies authorized by EPA will administer the
regulatory program in every State. The disposal on land of all other
industrial waste will be subject to standards that States are expected to
apply under RCRA (Subtitle D). These requirements will generally
mean added waste management costs and, consequently, added incentive
for reducing and recycling wastes.
Who operates the exchanges?
Materials exchanges are being operated by profit-oriented private
concerns. An information exchange can be either a private or govern-
mental effort; typically, it is a nonprofit operation. Practice has shown
that governmental operation by a regulatory office inhibits the free flow
of information necessary for a viable waste exchange. Private operations
(chambers of commerce, trade associations, environmental interest
groups, etc.) have had the greatest degree of success.
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What kinds of waste are being transferred?
Opportunities exist in many industries. Thus far, typical wastes
that are offered and sought through the exchanges include: concentrated
acids, alkalis, solvents, catalysts, oils, other combustibles (for fuel), and
wastes with high concentrations of recoverable metals.
How successful have waste exchanges been?
They have had varying degrees of success. Material exchanges
depend on aggressive marketing. Information exchanges have followed
a developmental pattern: a growing period, plateau, and stabilized listing
periods. European exchanges have consummated trades amounting to
as much as 30 percent of their listings. The average in the United States
is about 10 percent
The initial period seems to present the greatest problems, which lie
mostly in establishing lines of communication with industries and effec-
tively educating them to the existence of the exchange and the potential
benefits of the program. The importance of waste exchanges may not
be fully realized until the Federal and State programs developed under
the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act have taken effect.
Where are the existing waste exchanges?
EPA's current list includes the following:
Information exchanges
California
California Waste Exchange
California State Health Department
Vector and Waste Management
2151 Berkeley Way
Berkeley, Calif. 94704
(415) 843-7900 ex. 434
—Hirr
Illinois -\
Environmental Clearinghouse
Organization
Illinois Liquid Waste Haulers
Association
3426 Maple Lane
Hazelcrest, III 60424
(312) 335-0754
Iowa
Iowa Industrial Waste Information
Exchange
CIRAS, Building E
Iowa State University
Ames, Iowa 50010
(515)294-3420
Georgia
Georgia Waste Exchange
Georgia Business and Industry
Association
181 Washington Street, S.W.
Atlanta, Ga. 30303
(404) 6594444
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r
Minnesota
Minnesota Waste Exchange
Minnesota Association of Commerce
and Industry
200 Hanover
480 Cedar Street
St. Paul, Minn. 55101
(612)227-9591
Missouri
St. Louis Industrial Waste Exchange
St. Louis Regional Commerce and
Growth Association
10 Broadway
St. Louis, Mo. 63102
(314)231-5555
New Jersey
New Jersey State Waste Exchange
New Jersey Chamber of Commerce
5 Commerce Street
Newark, N.J. 07102
(201)623-7070
New York
Industrial Material Bulletin
EnKain Corporation
P.O. Box 590
Albany, N.Y. 12201
(518)436-9684
Syracuse Waste Exchange
Allied Chemical
P.O. Box 6
Solvay, N. Y. 13209
(315)487-4198
Ohio /
Industrial Waste Information Exchange
Columbus Industrial Association
1515 West Lane Avenue
Columbus, Ohio 43221
(614)486-€741
Oregon
Portland Recycling Team
1801 N.W. Irving
Portland, Oreg. 97209
(503) 228-5375
Tennessee
Tennessee Waste Swap
Tennessee Department of Public Health
Division of Solid Waste Management
230 Capitol Hfll Building
Nashville, Tenn. 37219
(615)741-3424
Texas
Houston Waste Exchange
Houston Chamber of Commerce
1100 Mflam Building - 25th Floor
Houston, Tex. 77002
(713)651-1313
Washington
Western Environmental Trade
Association
Park Place Suite 314
1200 6th Avenue
Kent, Wash. 98101
(206) 623-5235
Material exchanges
California
Zero Waste Systems
2928 Poplar Street
Oakland, Calif. 94608
(415)893-8257
Massachusetts
National Resources Recycling Exchange
286 Congress Street
Boston, Mass. 02210
(617)482-2727
New York
Union Carbide
Surplus Products Group
Investment Recovery Department
270 Park Avenue
New York, N.Y. 10017
(212)551-2345
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Further information?
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, through its headquarters
and regional offices, is assisting and encouraging interested groups to
establish waste exchanges. For further information, please contact the
solid waste management program at your nearest EPA Regional Office
(see addresses on following page), or:
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Solid Waste
Washington, D.C. 20460
Tel.: (202)755-9187
U.S. Env!!-f'r.rricnt->| rr.* -. - .•
Region V, L'brary
230 Sou in Le'.-.rborn Street
Chicsgo, Illinois 60604
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EPA Regional Offices
r\
Region I
John F. Kennedy Bldg.
Boston, MA 02203
(617)223-5775
Region II
26 Federal Plaza
New York, NY 10007
(212)264-0503
Region III
6th & Walnut Sts.
Philadelphia, PA 19106
(215)597-8116
Region IV
345 Courtland St., N.E.
Atlanta, GA 30308
(404)881-3116
Region V
230 South Dearborn St.
Chicago, IL 60604
(312)353-2197
Region VI
1201 Elm St., First International Bldg.
Dallas, TX 75270
(214) 767-2734
Region VII
1735 Baltimore Ave.
Kansas City, MO 64108
(816)374-3307
Region VIII
1860 Lincoln St.
Denver, CO 80203
(303) 837-2221
Region IX
215 Fremont St.
San Francisco, CA 94105
(415)556^606
Region X
1200 6th Ave.
Seattle, WA 98101
(206)442-1260
pa!696
SW-688
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