POLLUTION PREVENTION AND WASTE MINIMIZATION AT A GALVANIZING AND ELECTROPLATING FACILITY

Pollution prevention, often referred to as source reduction, encompass es all activities that lead to reductions in the amount and/or toxicit y of wastes. Waste minimization, on the other hand refers to all activ ities including source reduction, on-site reuse, and recycling that le ad to reductions in the amount and/or toxicity of waste generated, sto red, treated, or disposed of by a given facility. Pollution prevention generally is regarded as the most cost-effective component of integra ted waste management strategies. This paper describes an industrial po llution prevention program at an aging manufacturing facility in the M idwestern United States. The study focuses on metal electroplating and galvanizing. The facility under study produces fabricated metal produ cts for farm and industrial use. The facility performs many operations including electroplating, conversion coating, cleaning, machining, gr inding, impact deformation, shearing, welding, sand blasting, hat-dip galvanizing, painting, assembly and testing. Many of these processes r esult in the production of a variety of pollutants (gaseous, solid, an d liquid) that must be disposed of in some fashion. For example, the e lectroplating line results in the production of acids and rinse water containing zinc and chromium and the hot-dip galvanizing line results in the production of acids and rinse water containing zinc and iron. A ll of these wastes must be treated as hazardous substances. The painti ng processes result in the production of used industrial acids, solven ts, and chemicals used for cleaning and degreasing metal components. M ost of the recommended operational and process modifications were simp le to implement, and their pay-back periods were fairly short.