Public Health and Environment
Does Your Business Generate Hazardous Waste?
Businesses in Washington County must evaluate their wastes to determine if they are hazardous and is the first step of the
Ten Steps to Compliance.
A waste generated from a business may be hazardous if it has certain characteristics or specific ingredients as defined in the hazardous waste rules. Evaluation may mean laboratory testing of a waste sample or may be done using information about the process that generated the waste material.
A waste is classified as hazardous because it can pose a threat to human health and safety, or can contaminate the environment. Common hazardous wastes are solvents (e.g. paint thinner), paints, inks, corrosive materials (acids and bases), or wastes with poisonous ingredients or toxic metals like lead or mercury. The variety of hazardous wastes is huge and varies by the type of business.
If you generate a hazardous waste in Washington County, you need a hazardous waste generator license. To learn more about licensing, see
Hazardous Waste Forms,
or call us at 651-430-6655.
If your company does any of the following, you probably generate hazardous waste.
- Printing: Inks, solvents, photo solutions, film, acids, rags.
- Vehicle Maintenance: Oil, solvents, paints, thinners, antifreeze.
- Building Maintenance and Construction: Paints, thinners, solvents, cleaners, PCB's, acids, adhesives.
- Metal Fabrication: Solvents, sludges, cleaners, paints, acids, caustics.
- Plating: Sludges, cleaners, acids, caustics, cyanides.
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