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WASTE MINIMIZATION ASSESSMENT FOR A MANUFACTURER OF SCREWDRIVERS
Citation:
Edwards, H. W., M. F. Kostrzewa, AND G. P. Looby. WASTE MINIMIZATION ASSESSMENT FOR A MANUFACTURER OF SCREWDRIVERS. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D.C., EPA/600/S-94/003, 1994.
Description:
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has funded a pilot project to assist small and medium-size manufacturers who want to minimize their generation of waste but who lack the expertise to do so. In an effort to assist these manufacturers, Waste Minimization Assessment Centers (WMACs) were established at selected universities and procedures were establised at selected universities and procedures were adapted from the EPA Waste Minimization Opportunity Assessment Manual (EPA/625/7-88/003, July 1988). That document has been superseded by the Facility Pollution Prevention Guide (EPA/600/R-92/088, May 1992). The WMAC team at Colorado State University performed an assessment at a plant that manufactures screwdrivers--over 30 million/yr. Plastic handles are fabricated from virgin and recycled plastic beads. Five plastic extruders are used to form plastic rods that are cut to length and machined into handles. The finished handles are painted and then assembled into screwdrivers with metal blades forged in another plant. The team's report, detailing findings and recommendations, indicated that the waste stream generated in the greatest quantity is waste plastic and that significant cost savings could be realized by pelletizing the plastic scrap before its sale to a recycler. This Research Brief was developed by the principal investigators and EPA's Risk Reduction Engineering Laboratory, Cincinnati, OH, to announce key findings of an ongoing research project that is fully documented in a separate report of the same title available from University City Science Center, Philadelphia, PA.