WASTE ORIGIN:Chemical Storage
WASTE TYPES:Petroleum-based Solvents and Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) Air Emissions

WASTE REDUCTION AND RECYCLING METHODS:

• Tightly seal bungs and lids on containers.
• Properly label containers.
• Use spigots or pumps to dispense new materials.
• Use funnels when transferring wastes to storage containers.

WASTE ORIGIN:Wet-to-Dry or Dry-to-Dry Cleaning Processes
WASTE TYPE:Machine Lint and Dust, Sludges, Solvent-Contaminated Rags, Solvent Emissions, Spent Cartridge Filters, and Spent Solvents

WASTE REDUCTION AND RECYCLING METHODS:

• Regularly replace gaskets/seals on dryer dampers, deodorizers, and aeration valves.
• Inspect equipment for leaks from gasket and hose couplings, flanges, pumps.
• Replace faulty or worn gaskets on button trap and around cleaning machine door.
• adjust in-and-out condensing coil temperatures to within 10o F of each other.
• Check air vents for drippage.
• Check air relief valves for proper closure.
• Repair holes in air and exhaust ducts.
• After a filter change, check gaskets and sealing of new filter.
• Monitor equipment efficiency (e.g., pounds of clothes cleaned per drum of solvent).
• Size loads (neither over- or under-loading) to maximize solvent efficiency.
• Make sure cycle is complete before removing clothes from dryer; do not hang-dry clothes.
• Clean lint screens regularly to avoid clogging fans and condensers.
• Open button traps and lint gaskets only long enough to clean.
• Substitute low temperature laundering for dry cleaning for applicable fabrics.
• Redesign separator with baffles and decant traps.
• Only allow batch discharge of decant water from separator after visual inspection.
• Consider using some separator water as a pre-spotter.
• Consider a refrigerated "dry-to-dry" unit to replace a wet-to-dry unit to avoid solvent loss in the transfer process.
• Steam out carbon absorber frequently and allow carbon bed to dry completely before reuse.
• Recover solvents from filter cartridges by draining the filters (24 hours) and heating/stripping the cartridges to vaporize and capture additional solvent.
• Install or retrofit a solvent recovery system (either carbon adsorption, refrigeration/condenser).
• Add water to still bottoms before final boil down to recover additional solvent.
• Install solvent leak detectors.
• Check with equipment and solvent suppliers for tips on reducing solvent loss.
• Inspect the following areas regularly for leaks:
  hose and pipe connections, valves, fittings, pump, water separator, muck cooler, still; and, cartridge filter housing.

Sources:
Preventing Pollution in the Drycleaning Business, U.S. EPA, Fall 1991.
Hazardous Waste Reduction Facts: Commercial Dry Cleaners, City of Santa Monica, Dept. of General Services.
Dry Cleaning Industry Pollution Prevention Option Checklist (WP, Cleaner, Manual), Industrial Waste Section, County Sanitation Districts of Los Angeles County, Whittier, CA, September 1990.
Clearing the Air on Clean Air-Strategies For Perc Drycleaners: Compliance, Risk Reduction and Pollution Prevention, University of Tennessee Center For Industrial Services, Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, 1993.
Source Reduction of Chlorinated Solvents: Dry Cleaning of Fabrics, California Department of Toxic Substances Control, Alternative Technology Division, June 1991.
Proceedings: EPA Design for the Environment International Roundtable: Pollution Prevention and Control in the Dry Cleaning Industry; U.S. EPA, Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics; Economics, Exposure, and Technology Division; November 1992, EPA/774/R-92/002

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