Industry Specific Practices

The following lists of industry-specific practices were compiled from various research and educational publications, and edited based on review and comment by industry representatives (see side panel).

Specific practices listed are not recommendations. They are examples of measures which can and have been implemented by facilities to reduce waste generation and/or improve waste management. Use them as a starting point for ideas which may be appropriate for your business.

Many suggestions are not applicable to all facilities. Some may require regulatory authorization or notification. Many may require additional research or testing to determine specific equipment and procedural requirements, and to ensure that their implementation will result in the desired outcome.

Carefully consider material and process changes. When implementing such changes, be sure to:

• Use very strict process control - implement one change at a time and monitor results (look at scrap/rework rates and product quality in particular)
• Consider resulting changes in utility and/or labor requirements and costs
• Determine if any new wastestreams will be generated and how they will be managed (e.g. ion exchange resins will periodically require regeneration or disposal)
• Discuss any major changes with regulatory agencies to ensure compliance (or to determine if changes will result in less regulation)

Chapter 3 and the related worksheets can provide additional guidance for comparing alternative waste reduction options, determining their impacts, and beginning implementation.

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Directory to Industrial Processes:*

• Analytical and Clinical Laboratories
  
• Automotive Repair
  
• Construction-related Activities
  
• Dry Cleaning
  
• General Solvent Use & Cleaning/Degreasing
  
• Machining
  
• Metal Finishing & Printed Circuit Board Manufacturing
  
• Non-Agricultural Pesticide Application
  
• Painting, Coating, & Stripping
  
• Photoprocessing
  
• Printing & Allied Industries
  
• Process Equipment Cleaning
  
• Semiconductor Manufacturing
  

* In this section:

(1) An asterisk (*) next to a listed practice indicates that industry reviewers considered it a particularly good suggestion based on effectiveness and effort/expense required to implement.

(2) Resources used to develop each industry-specific list of practices are indicated by a "source number" (S1, S2, S3, etc.) which refers to resources listed in Appendix A.

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