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Aluminum Dust and how do you dispose of it properly after polishing?

I am looking at taking on a very large account that requires polishing aluminum. I already have a separate system in place to separate the steel dust and the aluminum but I am not sure how it is disposed of? Would it be considered a Hazardous Waste? Any help would be great.

William Sklavenitis
- Canton, Ohio
2006

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2006

Aluminum (thank God) is not a regulated metal, and to my knowledge, can be disposed of in the landfill (check with your landfill, just to be safe).
If you are talking about significant quantities, perhaps you might want to recycle?

Marc Green
anodizer - Boise, Idaho

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2006

Good afternoon:
Is the aluminum a hazwaste? This depends on several factors, especially particle size and whatever else might be present as a contaminant in the waste.
First, consider particle size. If you look in Title 49 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), you would see that aluminum powder could be considered either a Division 4.1 (Flammable solid) or Division 4.3 (Dangerous when wet) material. Knowing this, I'd carefully check the EPA regs., especially 40 CFR 261.21 (Characteristic of Ignitability) and make sure you don't have a D001 hazwaste.
Next, consider contaminants. Check to see that none of the potential contaminants are materials which could cause you to fail the Toxicity Characteristic Leaching Procedure (TCLP) test, especially for the 8 metals on the list. Refer to 40 CFR 261.24. Another point to consider is that there might be enough contamination present to turn what would otherwise be a hazardous waste aluminum powder into a non hazardous material. HOWEVER, this does not mean that if you know you have a potentially hazardous waste aluminum powder, that you can just mix inert contaminants into the mix to render it non hazardous.
If it does turn out to be hazardous, you might also want to check EPA regs for the possibility that this material could be legitimately used as a raw material by somebody else. Then it wouldn't be considered waste.
If you're not certain what to do, and don't have an environmental and DOT expert on staff, you would be smart to find someone who is knowledgeable on these subjects.

Steve Bizub
- St Louis, Missouri

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2006

You are no doubt right, Steve, and we appreciate your taking the time to respond in such informative detail. But your posting also substantiates the complaint of many that our government is a principal reason American small business can't compete :-)

If you can name an industrial waste exchange that can help William with the recycling of this, that would be great. Local governments poured tens of millions of dollars into grants to such exchanges 20 years ago but I can't find any that are still open.

Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey