ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD

February

7,

1980

SAFETY~KLEENCORPORATION,

Petitioner,

v.

)

PCB

80~l2

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY,

)

Respondent.

ORDER OF THE BOARD

(by Dr. Satchell):

This matter comes before the Board upon a variance petition

filed January 17,

1980 by Safety~KleenCorporation (Safety~

Kleen)

The Petitioner requests a variance from the requirements

of Chapter

9:

Special

Waste Hauling Regulations, or in the alter~

native

a finding that Chapter

9 is inapplicable to its spent

solvent collection and regeneration operations.

Safety—Kleen

leases solvent washing equipment to customers throughout the state.

Its customers are mostly engaged in automotive repair

and

industri~

al maintenance.

The equipment appears to typically consist of

a

covered sink,

solvent puma,

nozzle and return drain.

The equip~

ment

is

leased for a periodic charge which includes regularly

scheduled maintenance and solvent changes,

Safety~Kleenalso

provides solvent leasing service to persons who own equipment

manufactured by

others.

About 97

of

the

solvent handled by Safety~Kleenis mineral

spirit, which the Merck Index defines as

a flammable petroleum

fraction boiling in the range of 80°to 145°

C.

The remainder

is

a mixture of halogenated hydrocarbons with a water phase

solvent.

The spent solvents are transported in closed drums by

route trucks

to storage tanks

at the sales branch offices,

Tanker trucks periodically transport spent solvent from the sales

branches to one of Safety~Kleen~sregional solvent regeneration

facilities,

one of which is in Elgin, Illinois,

The spent solvent

is distilled after emulsions and sediment are removed,

Products

which are not reused as solvent or sold are disposed of at ap~

proved disposal sites,

This

is done utilizing the special waste

manifest procedures of Chapter

9,

Safety—Kleen requests

a

variance or a determination that the manifest system is other~

wise inapplicable to its spent solvent collection system.

37—363

---

Rule 201 of Chapter 9 requires a permit for transportation

of special waste generated in Illinois or for transportation into

Illinois for disposal,

storage

or treatment.

Rules 301 and 302

require a manifest for delivery or acceptance of special wastes.

Waste

is defined by

Rule 103 as follows:

“Waste” means any garbage, refuse, sludge from a waste

treatment plant, water supply treatment plant or air

pol-

lution control facility or other discarded material includ-

ing solid,

liquid,

semi-solid, or contained gaseous material

resulting

from industrial,

commercial, mining

and agricultur-

al operations, and from community activities,

If

the spent solvent is a waste

it is

a special waste.

How-

ever,

it is necessary to first determine whether the spent solvent

is waste.

Since

it does not fit into any of the enumerated cate-

gories the question is whether it is “other discarded material.”

Since it is destined to be reused, rather than discarded,

it is

not waste.

The fact that a small fraction is rejected from the

clarification and distillation process to he landfilled does not

change this conclusion.

Even if the feedstock were crude oil,

there would likely be some portion rejected from the purification

process to be discarded.

The Board does not seek in Chapter

9 to

regulate the movement of materials in general, but only waste

(Rule 101 of

Chapter

9),

Section 20 of the Environmental Protection Act provides that

a purpose of the Act is to promote the conservation of natural re-

sources by encouraging the recycling and reuse of waste materials.

It would tend to defeat this purpose of the Act if the Board were

to impose the expenses of compliance with the requirements of

Chapter

9 on persons

who are engaged in recycling and reuse of

materials which would otherwise be wasted

(33

PCB 131,

147).

The

Board therefore will dismiss the petition.

IT IS

SO

ORDERED,

I, Christ~anL.

Moffett, Clerk of the Illinois Pollution

Control Board, hereb

certify the above Order was adopted on

the

~

day ~

1980 by

a vote of

~tan.Moff,~lerk

Illinois Pollution Control Board