Disposal of chemicals

[Alex Elias]

I cleaned a brush with thinner and now I have a continer with thinner I don't know what to do with it. So, how do you dispose of thinner, Lacker thinner and any of these other chemicals
Alex

[Steve Schoene]

Paint thinner can be stored, the solids allowed to settle and the remaining liquid reused, at least for initial cleaning. That said, your best way to deal with unwanted finishing solvents is to put them in something like a pie pan or other flat surface (the disposable aluminum foil kind unless your wife is different than mine) and let them evaporate. If all the non-commercial finishers do this the effect on "clean air" will still be insignificant.

[Matt Meiser]

I reuse it for cleaning until it gets too bad. I dump everything in one can and let it settle out for a couple weeks, then carefully dump the liquids into another can (the can's like thinner comes in at the borg.)

When I need to get rid of some I dump it over cardboard and/or scrap wood in our fire pit and toss in a match (obviously safety limits how much should be burned.) When I have oily rags, I use the same technique.

[Joe Mioux]

Ocassionally, you will see toxic waste clean-up days advertised. Usually, the state EPA, Dept of Ag, or your municipality will host these clean-up days where you can take old chemicals and have them disposed of properly.

Joe

[Matt Chantry]

Up here in Canada, we can drop off used chemicals like that at any fire station. It might be worth a phone call.

M

[Howard Acheson]

First, the best way to make a brush easier to clean is to dip the bristles into mineral spirits before you start to use the finish. This will prevent finish from getting up into the furrel.

For cleaning, use a big 3# coffee can. I pour in some mineral spirits and work the brush in it until is is as clean as you can get it. Then twirl the brush handle between your hands to remove the cleaner. Then pour the cleaner into a smaller 1# coffee can. Now pour some more mineral spirits into the large can, work the brush, twirl it and pour the cleaner into a second small 1# coffee can. Cover both coffee cans. The solids will settle out and the next time just pour off the liquid from the first can you used into the large can for the first rinse, then pour off the liquid from the second can for the second rinse and so on. When the first rinse can gets too full of solids, pour off the remaining liquid into can #2 and add some kitty litter and discard the coffee can with the solids. Can #2 now becomes can #1 and you start a new can #2 with fresh mineral spirits. This way you never have to discard mineral spirits.

I final clean my brushes with water rinsable brush cleaner--which I save also--followed by liquid dishwashing detergent. Use warm water, not hot. Shake them as dry as possible and brush them back and forth on paper towels, then wrap in brown paper, fold it over t0 shape the chisel end of the bristles and hold with a rubber band.

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

best way to deal with unwanted finishing solvents is to put them in something like a pie pan or other flat surface [...] and let them evaporate. If all the non-commercial finishers do this the effect on "clean air" will still be insignificant.

And I thought I was bad~!! Woo Hoo.

Why not simply collect 'em in those left over steel cans for thinner and alcohol and take 'em to the county for disposal. Here in beautiful lovely downtown New Jersey the counties (mine at least) do a free yearly drive to collect all the nasty stuff.

Free is a good price knowing it's going to be disposed of correctly. When I go each year I am amazed at the size of the mountains (plural) of containers of chemicals solvents and oils they have each year. All us non-commercial users seem to have a whole lot of nasty things to dispose of when we put it all in one place.

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

First, the best way to make a brush easier to clean is to dip the bristles into mineral spirits before you start to use the finish. This will prevent finish from getting up into the furrel.

That's a cool tip. Never heard it before .

I have a 2' tall SST cannister that I keep full of old diesel oil. I drop the brushes into that on a line to keep 'em of the bottom and let the paint and what not just fall off 'em. Then, in a week or 50 (when I get around to it) I pull 'em and use mineral spirits to clean 'em. They are good as new.

[Jeff Clow]

I posed the same question to a friend who works in the hazmat division of the state EPD department. He said for the small quantities of the non comercial user / hobbiest, the best way he could suggest was the pie pan suggestion above. I questioned him on the air pollution aspects of this. He said that the quanties per person were too low for anyone to deal with, and the amount of pollution would be minimal compared to commercial users. If someone in your area recycles small quantities, such as the firehouse, thats great, but I couldn't find any such thing in my area.

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

He said for the small quantities of the non comercial user / hobbiest, the best way he could suggest was the pie pan suggestion above. I questioned him on the air pollution aspects of this. He said that the quanties per person were too low for anyone to deal with, and the amount of pollution would be minimal compared to commercial users.

I wonder what he imagined non-commercial use to be?
There's a lot of people who buy a gallon can of some chemical or other almost every week. Maybe his wife was a crafter and she went through a quart bottle of acetone once every six months.

[Matt Meiser]

I used to work for a major engineering firm which did a lot of regulatory work. At one point I was writing an application dealing with paint materials for a automotive paint shop. Some of the chemicals on the list were some of the same ones I use in my shop and I asked one of the environmental engineers about that. Basically if it isn't commercial, you aren't subject to the same EPA regulations. That doesn't mean you can dump it down the storm drain or toilet, but spray booths, storage, etc aren't regulated. The guy who told me this is the technical lead for all of the environmental reporting for one of the automakers here in Detroit, and I've known him for a long time so I trust what he told me.

One gallon every week is a drop in the bucket compared to paint shop in an auto plant.

[Steve Schoene]

I wonder what he imagined non-commercial use to be?
There's a lot of people who buy a gallon can of some chemical or other almost every week. Maybe his wife was a crafter and she went through a quart bottle of acetone once every six months.

To get an idea about scale being considered the broader HAPS (Hazardous air polluntants) regulations apply to facilities that have the annual potential to emit 10 tons of one HAP or 25 tons of all HAPS combined. That's not the same as VOC regulations which are more stringent in "non-attainment" areas where they apply.

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

Basically if it isn't commercial, you aren't subject to the same EPA regulations.

Indeed.

That doesn't mean you can dump it down the storm drain or toilet,

Well, here in New Jersey you are required by state law law to dump it on the side of the highway. OR of there is a reservoir nearby we have to use that. Penalties for failure to dump are stiff.

One gallon every week is a drop in the bucket compared to paint shop in an auto plant.

Yah it's pretty small till one does the math Multiply a gallon or two by all the people buying the stuff for private consumption (burp).

There's a lot of us; the numbers end up being substantial.

And then the commercial applications are heavily regulated. Very little escapes any more. That may leave us little guys as the largest polluters when taken collectively.

I'm feeling guilty just typing this.

To get an idea about scale being considered the broader HAPS (Hazardous air polluntants) regulations apply to facilities that have the annual potential to emit 10 tons of one HAP or 25 tons of all HAPS combined. That's not the same as VOC regulations which are more stringent in "non-attainment" areas where they apply.

Indeed. It's the cumulative impact on contaminants that I allude to above that is, I think, the better perspective. I can toss some stuff out and you can do it too and so can a whole lot of other people but at some point the scale is no longer trivial.

Ask the local BORG how often they have to re-stock their VOC chemicals. It's pretty frequent.

[Jeff Clow]

In regard to non-commercial quantities....What I was talking to my buddy about in particular was disposing of 7 or 8 gallons of mineral spirits in an automotive parts washer. That seemed like a lot to let evaporate, but he said I would have a hard time finding someone to deal with such a small quantity (compared to a comercial user). Since I didn't fall under the regulations, I wouldn't be forced to pay big bucks to get someone to deal with a small quantity. He never told me what a large, or commercial quantity would be, but indicated that the quantities I would be dealing with in a home shop, even gallons from a parts washer wouldn't really matter.
He deals with superfund type sites, so I guess a few gallons here and there don't really seem like that much.

[Matt Meiser]

Indeed.

Well, here in New Jersey you are required by state law law to dump it on the side of the highway. OR of there is a reservoir nearby we have to use that. Penalties for failure to dump are stiff.

I wondered what that smell was when I was there over the winter.

Yah it's pretty small till one does the math Multiply a gallon or two by all the people buying the stuff for private consumption (burp).

As an example, GM's Lansing Grand River plant in Lansing, MI released 140,500 lbs to the air and 5,300 lbs to the water in 2005. I'm suspicious of the water number as the previous 2 years it was 20,000 lbs higher.

(Source: http://www.gmdynamic.com/company/gma...il.php?fID=224)

That's just one auto assembly plant, and a pretty new one at that. I looked at Orion Assembly in Orion, MI and Hamtramck Assembly in Detroit and they each released close to 500,000lbs to the air and 25-30,000lbs to the water.