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WASTE MINIMIZATION OPPORTUNITY ASSESSMENT MANUAL
Citation:
WASTE MINIMIZATION OPPORTUNITY ASSESSMENT MANUAL. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D.C., EPA/625/7-88/003, 1988.
Description:
Waste minimization (WM) is a policy specifically mandated by the U.S. Congress in the 1984 Hazardous and Solid Wastes Amendments to the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). The RCRA regulations require that generators of hazardous waste have a program in place to reduce the volume and toxicity of waste generated to the extent that is economically practical. The present focus of WM activities is on hazardous wastes. In the working definition used by EPA, waste minimization consists of source reduction and recycling. Of the two approaches, source reduction is usually preferable to recycling from an environmental perspective. A waste minimization assessment is a systematic planned procedure with the objective of identifying ways to reduce or eliminate waste. This manual includes the steps involved in conducting a waste minimization assessment. It outlines the planning and organizational aspects that provide a necessary foundation for a waste minimization assessment; describes the assessment phase, including collecting information, selecting assessment targets, selecting assessment teams, and identifying potential WM options; discusses the methods for evaluating options for technical and economic feasibility; and describes the implementation of attractive options that include obtaining funding, installation and implementation, and measuring the effectiveness of implemented options.