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 hazardous waste but who lack the expertise to do so. Waste Minimization Assessment Centers (WMACs) were established at selected universities and procedures were adapted from the EPA Waste Minimization Opportunity Assessment Manual (EPA/625/7-88/003, July 1988). The WMAC team at the University of Tennessee inspected a plant making large and small outdoor signs with the use of steel channels and sheeting, plastic sheeting, paint, adhesives, electrical wiring, and hardware. The team's report, detailing their findings and recommendations, identified the greatest opportunities to minimize waste in the painting, cleaning, and letter gluing operations. The greatest savings would result from the reactivation of an unused electrostatic paint spray system. The 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 the authors.

Caption title. Shipping list no.: 91-553-P. "Jul. 1991." "EPA/600-M-91-016."