News
Environmental Update (May 2009)
Tales of a consultant
Is swarf classified as hazardous/special waste?
Following on from April's e-bulletin, I was recently asked by a
client whether loose machine metal swarf that had been contaminated
with machine coolant could be legally disposed of in a scrap metal
skip.
Assuming that the swarf results from the cutting of metal using
oil-based coolant, the swarf will be classed as hazardous/special
waste and SHOULD NOT be disposed of in a scrap
metal skip.
Machine oil is included as hazardous in The List of Waste
(England) Regulations 2005 and their equivalent in Scotland, Wales
and Northern Ireland. This is supported by The Chemical Hazardous
Information and Packaging for Supply (CHIP) Regulations 2002 which
classify many oils as type 2 carcinogens.
It is not thought that draining the oil from the swarf would be
adequate to remove all the hazardous contamination from the metal
swarf waste.
In all cases, the onus is on the producer to
ensure that the waste is adequately assessed and handled safely
according to its hazardousness.