S-EPA
                          United States
                          Environmental Protection
                          Agency
                                    Risk Reduction
                                    Engineering Laboratory
                                    Cincinnati, OH 45268
                          Research and Development
                                    EPA/600/S-92/049   October 1992
ENVIRONMENTAL
                          RESEARCH   BRIEF
                     Waste Reduction Activities and Options for a
                            Manufacturer of Electroplated Wire

                                  Alan Ulbrecht and Daniel J. Watts*
Abstract
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) funded a
project with the  New Jersey Department of Environmental
Protection and Energy (NJDEPE) to assist in conducting waste
minimization assessments at 30 small- to medium-sized busi-
nesses in the state of New Jersey. One of the sites selected
was a facility that manufactures electroplated wire for use in
the automotive, computer, aerospace, and related industries.
The wire is plated with copper, silver, nickel, tin, or tin-lead
according to customer  specifications. The process involves
cleaning of the base wire followed by electroplating  using a
reel-to-reel technique. A site visit  was made in 1990 during
which several opportunities for waste minimization were ider$r
fied. Options identified included reduction of discharge volume,
improved rinsing operations, changes in the wire drawing op-
eration, and consideration of a zero-discharge system. Imple-
mentation of the identified waste  minimization opportunities
was not part of the  program. Percent waste reduction, net
annual savings, implementation costs and payback  periods
were estimated.

This Research Brief was developed by the Principal Investiga-
tors and EPA's Risk Reduction Engineering Laboratory in Cin-
cinnati, OH, to announce key findings of this completed as-
sessment.


Introduction
The environmental issues facing industry today have expanded
considerably beyond traditional concerns. Wastewater, air
emissions, potential soil and groundwater contamination, solid
waste disposal, and employee health and safety have become
increasingly  important concerns. The management and dis-
* New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, NJ 07102
                        posal of hazardous substances, including both process-related
                        wastes and residues from waste treatment, receive significant
                        attention because of regulation and economics.

                        As environmental issues have  become more  complex, the
                        strategies for waste management and control  have become
                        more systematic and integrated. The positive  role of waste
                        minimization and pollution prevention within industrial operations
                        at each stage of product life is recognized throughout the
                        world. An ideal goal is to manufacture products while generat-
                        ing the least amount of waste possible.

                        The Hazardous Waste Advisement Program (HWAP) of the
                        Division of Hazardous Waste Management, NJDEPE, is pursu-
                        ing the goals  of waste minimization awareness and  program
                        implementation in the state.  HWAP, with the help of an EPA
                        grant from the Risk  Reduction Engineering Laboratory, con-
                        ducted  an Assessment of Reduction and Recycling Opportuni-
                        ties for Hazardous Waste (ARROW) project. ARROW was
                        designed to assess waste  minimization potential across  a
                        broad range of New Jersey industries. The project targeted 30
                        sites to perform waste minimization assessments following the
                        approach outlined in EPA's  Waste Minimization Opportunity
                        Assessment Manual (EPA/625/7-88/003). Under contract to
                        NJDEPE, the  Hazardous  Substance Management Research
                        Center  at the  New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) as-
                        sisted in conducting the  assessments. This research brief
                        presents an assessment of the manufacturing of electroplated
                        wire (1 of the 30 assessments performed) and provides recom-
                        mendations for waste minimization options resulting from the
                        assessment.


                        Methodology of Assessments
                        The assessment process was coordinated by a team of techni-
                        cal  staff from NJIT with  experience in process operations,
                                                                             Printed on Recycled Paper

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basic chemistry, and environmental concerns and needs. Be-
cause the EPA waste minimization manual is designed to be
primarily applied by the in-house staff of the facility, the degree
of involvement of the NJIT team varied according to the ease
with  which the  facility staff could  apply the manual. In some
cases, NJITs  role  was to  provide advice. In others,  NJIT
conducted essentially the entire evaluation.

The  goal of the project was to encourage participation  in the
assessment process by management  and staff at the facility.
To do this, the participants were encouraged to proceed through
the organizational steps outlined in the manual.  These steps
can be summarized as follows:

  • Obtaining corporate commitment to a waste  minimization
    initiative
  • Organizing  a task force or similar group to carry out the
    assessment
  • Developing a policy statement regarding waste minimiza-
    tion for issuance by corporate management
  • Establishing tentative waste reduction  goals to be achieved
    by the program
  • Identifying waste-generating sites and processes
  • Conducting a detailed site inspection
  • Developing a list of options which may lead  to the  waste
    reduction goal
  • Formally analyzing the feasibility of the various options
  • Measuring  the effectiveness of the options and continuing
    the assessment.

Not every facility was able to follow these steps as presented.
In each case, however, the identification  of  waste-generating
sites and processes, detailed site inspections, and  development
of options was  carried out. Frequently, it was necessary for a
high degree of involvement by NJIT to  accomplish these steps.
Two common reasons for needing outside participation were a
shortage of  technical staff within the company and a need to
develop an agenda for technical action before corporate com-
mitment and policy statements could be obtained.

H was not a goal of the ARROW project to  participate in the
feasibility  analysis or implementation steps. However, NJIT
offered to provide advice for feasibility  analysis if  requested.

In each case, the  NJIT team  made several site visits  to the
facility.  Initially, visits were made to explain the  EPA manual
and to encourage the facility through the organizational stages.
If delays and complications developed, the team offered assis-
tance in the technical review, inspections, and option develop-
ment.

No sampling or laboratory analysis was undertaken as part of
these assessments.


Facility  Background
The facility is a manufacturer of electroplated wire,  used typically
for electrical wiring  applications in the automotive, computer,
aerospace, and related industries. The process involves  clean-
ing of the base wire and plating with copper, silver, nickel, tin,
or tin-lead as  required by  the  customer specification.  The
plated wire is drawn to assure the correct  diameter.

The facility is located in an urban area and employs about 25
people.  This particular facility has been in operation for many
years and the manufacturing practices  are well ingrained in the
staff. A metal recovery system has been installed to limit the
level of metals in the discharge to the sewerage system.


Manufacturing Processes
The  production of the  plated wire is fundamentally a 3-step
operation—cleaning the base wire, plating the desired top coat,
and drawing to assure the required size in the final product.
Each of these steps has  a number of  individual operations,
however. The base wire which is usually copper of  beryllium/
copper is electro-cleaned in a caustic solution, rinsed in water,
acid dipped, and water rinsed. The cleaned wire is then plated
in a reel-to-reel operation with copper, silver, nickel, tin, or tin-
lead  as required by the customer. There is a final rinse after
the plating bath. The plated wire is size-reduced by drawing
through a diamond die using a lubricant of water and detergent.


Existing Waste Management Activities
The  company has  already instituted a  program  of  pollution
prevention. This is perhaps best illustrated by the ion exchange/
electrowinning procedures which have been installed to recover
metals from the combined dragout and rinse waters before
they  are sent to the POTW for treatment.

In  schematic terms all of  the rinses and  acid/base cleaning
effluents are combined and  prepared for the ion exchange/
electrowinning process. The exception to  this is an intermediate
processing step required for the  effluent from the copper and
silver plating baths and rinses. These effluents contain cyanide
and  require  a cyanide  destruction step.  This  is accomplished
by oxidation with hydrogen  peroxide.

The  combined effluents are adjusted to near neutral pH  and
filtered to  remove any solids  or dirt. The filtered solutions are
piped to a multi-bed ion exchange system to remove copper
and other residual metals. The exchanged aqueous stream  is
sent to the POTW for treatment.  It is reported that this stream
is approximately 500 gal/day.

When the  resin is spent, or has reached its exchange capacity,
it is regenerated with sulfuric acid and backwashed. The back-
wash averages about 300 gal and is rich in copper and other
metals. The regeneration is required about once a month. The
backwash is pumped to a 500-gal electro-winning tank where
the metal is  plated onto cathodes until the concentration  of
metal in solution drops below 50 ppm. The residual solution  is
looped back to the ion exchange system for further treatment
and the plated out material is sold for scrap.

The  lubricating process for the wire drawing step is basically a
closed loop system. When the water-detergent bath appears  to
be too dirty, it is  decanted off and disposed of as hazardous
waste. The volume of this  material appears to be about 25 gal
and is  disposed of about every 2 weeks.


Waste Minimization Opportunities
The  type  of waste  currently generated by  the  facility, the
source of  the waste, the quantity of the waste and the annual
treatment and disposal costs are given in Table 1. This particular
facility presents a dilemma in describing waste streams.  The
presence  of an in-place material recovery system means that
the actual waste streams sent offsite are relatively insignificant
in  terms  of the total  effluent from the process before the
material recovery step.  Therefore, some options  will also be

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presented which  may  relate to  improvement of the recovery
procedure.

Table 2 shows the opportunities  for waste minimization recom-
mended for the facility. The type of waste, the  minimization
opportunity, the possible waste reduction and associated sav-
ings, and the implementation cost along with the payback time
are given in the table. The quantities of waste currently gener-
ated at the facility and possible waste reduction depend on the
level of activity of the facility. All values should be considered
in that context.

It should be noted that the economic savings of the minimization
opportunity, in most cases, results from the need for less raw
material and from reduced present and future costs associated
with waste treatment and disposal. It should also be noted that
the savings  given  for  each opportunity reflect  the savings
achievable when implementing  each waste minimization op-
portunity independently and do not reflect duplication of savings
that would  result when the opportunities  are implemented in a
package.

The cost savings are calculated  both in terms of avoided costs
of waste disposal  and recovery of the value of  raw material
V Mention of trade names or commercial products does not constitute endorsement
 or recommendation for use.
                                     used again. Also,  no equipment depreciation is factored into
                                     the calculations.


                                     Regulatory Implications
                                     There do not seem to be significant regulatory implications of
                                     pollution prevention initiatives at this facility. It is likely that the
                                     metal recovery system was installed at the facility in  light of
                                     regulatory pressures to control the level of metals in the  effluent
                                     sent to the POTW. It is also likely, according to the POTW, that
                                     additional restrictions will be applied to such effluents in the
                                     future.  In such a  case, the  facility  will have to enhance its
                                     testing of effluent in order to assure that all emissions meet the
                                     more severe requirements. The concept of zero discharge to
                                     the POTW may also be a viable strategy for the facility, although
                                     retaining the metal recovery capability would be desirable.

                                     This Research Brief summarizes a part of the work done under
                                     cooperative  Agreement  No.  CR-815165 by  the  New  Jersey
                                     Institute of Technology under  the  sponsorship  of the New
                                     Jersey Department of Environmental  Protection and  Energy
                                     and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The EPA Project
                                     Officer was Mary Ann Curran. She can be reached at:

                                             Pollution Prevention Research Branch
                                             Risk Reduction Engineering Laboratory
                                             U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
                                             Cincinnati, OH 45268
 Table 1. Summary of Current Waste Generation
 Waste Generated
Source of Waste
Annual Quantity
  Generated
 Aqueous Discharge to
 Sewer

 Detergent/Water Mixture
 Metal-Containing Aqueous
  Waste Stream
Effluent from the ion exchange
system

Lubricant from the wire
drawing operation

Combined rinses and cleaning
effluents
   182,000 gal


       650 gal


   182,000 gal
      Annual Waste
    Management Costs
     $48
    1200
The facility could not provide the
costs of this part of their operation.
This is the feed stock for the metal
recovery operation and the key cost
factors include periodic replacement
of resin,acid costs for regeneration
of the resin, power consumption for
electrowinning, and loss of metals
from the plating baths. There is some
cost recovery from sale of recovered
metal scrap. Estimate: $6,000
                                                                 •frv.8. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE: I9M - SSO-M7/MMO

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 Table 2.  Summary of Recommended Waste Minimization Opportunities

                         Minimization Opportunity               Annual Waste Reduction
Waste Stream
Reduced
                                                             Quantity
                                                                            Percent
             Net      Implementation   Payback
        Annual Savings       Cost      Years*
 Wire Drawing Lubricant
Metal-Containing
 Aqueous Waste Stream
                        Filtration or centrifugation               325 gal
                        to remove dirt and solids
                        and extend life of fluid.
                        Additions ofbiocide may extend
                        fluid life even further.

                        Because this is a mechanical            650 gal
                        operation, filtration to remove
                        any metal particles should produce
                        a liquid which is not hazardous.
                        This should be confirmed by appropriate
                        testing. Disposal as non-hazardous
                        water solution would significantly
                        lower disposal costs.

                        Install solenoid valves to shut          9,100 gal
                        off rinse water flow when plating
                        current is off. This reduces flow
                        through the system and saves on water
                        consumption.
50
                                                                              100
$600
                                                                                           1200
                        $1,000
                                                                                                        1,200
                                                                                                                       1.6
                                        1.0
             100
         primarily
         from water
         savings but
         but also reduces
         cation load on
         resin, extending
         time between
         resin regenerations
               300
3.0
                        Install scrapers and wipers to
                        remove adhering dragout from the
                        wire and return to the plating
                        baths.  Because of the uniformity
                        of the wire shape as contrasted
                        to plating of irregularly shaped
                        articles, this is a technically
                        feasible step.  This returns plating
                        chemicals to use and reduces load
                        on the metal recovery system.

                        Use rinse water as make-up water
                        for plating baths.
                                                           1,820 gal
                                                           (The volume of the
                                                           stream would be rela-
                                                           tively unchanged,
                                                           however the metal
                                                           content would be
                                                           substantially reduced.)
                                                           9,100 gal            5
                                                        (The volume which can
                                                        easily be added back
                                                        depends on the rate of
                                                        removal or evaporation
                                                        from the plating baths.
                                                        The savings could be greater
                                                        than estimated here.)
            3000
                          1000
                            0.3
             300
                           100
                            0.3
* Savings result from reduced raw material and treatment and disposal costs when implementing each minimization opportunity independently.
  United States
  Environmental Protection Agency
  Center for Environmental Research Information
  Cincinnati, OH 45268

  Official Business
  Penalty for Private Use
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  EPA/600/S-92/049

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