Ideas to cut wastes
The ideal way to reduce waste is to avoid making it in the first place. When this is not practical, a second method of recycling waste products back into the process is to be considered. Specific improvements involve raw materials and equipment like reactors, heat exchangers, pumps, furnaces, distillation columns, piping and control systems.
Industries often initiate “Area Waste Reduction Program” (WRAP). One novel way to generate ideas is to initiate “Energy Conservation Program” or sometimes called “Energy Contest” and “Waste Reduction Idea contests”. Contest articles should be well documented. Often many waste reduction projects also save energy.
What is waste?
Waste includes streams or materials that are:
Ø Vented to air
Ø Discharge to the water
Ø Sent to landfill
Ø Sent to an incinerator
Ø Sent to a flare
Ø Sent to a biological treatment facility
The most common waste reduction techniques are to make much less waste initially and to recycle waste products back to the process. Sometimes it is also possible to reduce emissions by operating waste management units more efficiently.
The various ways the wastes can be reduced pertaining to the specific areas are as follows:
Raw Materials:
Raw materials are usually purchased from an outside source or transferred from an on-site plant. Each raw materials needs to be studied to determine how it affects the amount of waste produced. The specification of each raw material entering the plant should be closely examined.
Ø Improve quality of feeds. Although the percentage of undesirable impurities in a feed stream may be low, it can be a major contributor to the produced by a plant. Reducing the level of impurities may involve working with the supplier of a purchased raw material, working with on-site plants that supply feed streams or installing new purification equipment.
Ø Use of off-spec material. Occasionally, a process can use off-spec material (that would otherwise be burnt or land filled) because the particular quality that makes the material off-spec is not important to the process.
Ø Improve quality of products. Impurities in your own products may be creating waste in your customer’s plants. Not only may this be costly, it may cause some customers to look elsewhere for hogher quality raw materials. Take the initiative in discussing the effects of impurities with your customers.
Ø Use inhibitors. Inhibitors prevent unwanted side reactions or polymer formation. A wide variety of inhibitors are commercially available. If inhibitors are already being used, check with suppliers for improved formulations and new products.
Ø Change shipping containers. If raw materials are being received in containers that cannot be reused and need ti be burned or land filled, change to reusable containers or bulk shipments
The ideal way to reduce waste is to avoid making it in the first place. When this is not practical, a second method of recycling waste products back into the process is to be considered. Specific improvements involve raw materials and equipment like reactors, heat exchangers, pumps, furnaces, distillation columns, piping and control systems.
Industries often initiate “Area Waste Reduction Program” (WRAP). One novel way to generate ideas is to initiate “Energy Conservation Program” or sometimes called “Energy Contest” and “Waste Reduction Idea contests”. Contest articles should be well documented. Often many waste reduction projects also save energy.
What is waste?
Waste includes streams or materials that are:
Ø Vented to air
Ø Discharge to the water
Ø Sent to landfill
Ø Sent to an incinerator
Ø Sent to a flare
Ø Sent to a biological treatment facility
The most common waste reduction techniques are to make much less waste initially and to recycle waste products back to the process. Sometimes it is also possible to reduce emissions by operating waste management units more efficiently.
The various ways the wastes can be reduced pertaining to the specific areas are as follows:
Raw Materials:
Raw materials are usually purchased from an outside source or transferred from an on-site plant. Each raw materials needs to be studied to determine how it affects the amount of waste produced. The specification of each raw material entering the plant should be closely examined.
Ø Improve quality of feeds. Although the percentage of undesirable impurities in a feed stream may be low, it can be a major contributor to the produced by a plant. Reducing the level of impurities may involve working with the supplier of a purchased raw material, working with on-site plants that supply feed streams or installing new purification equipment.
Ø Use of off-spec material. Occasionally, a process can use off-spec material (that would otherwise be burnt or land filled) because the particular quality that makes the material off-spec is not important to the process.
Ø Improve quality of products. Impurities in your own products may be creating waste in your customer’s plants. Not only may this be costly, it may cause some customers to look elsewhere for hogher quality raw materials. Take the initiative in discussing the effects of impurities with your customers.
Ø Use inhibitors. Inhibitors prevent unwanted side reactions or polymer formation. A wide variety of inhibitors are commercially available. If inhibitors are already being used, check with suppliers for improved formulations and new products.
Ø Change shipping containers. If raw materials are being received in containers that cannot be reused and need ti be burned or land filled, change to reusable containers or bulk shipments