Wastebits Blog

We are pleased to announce that Melissa Puchalla has joined Wastebits as our new Vice President of Sustainability. Melissa brings a wealth of experience to this role, with a background in global supply chain compliance and ESG strategy. In her new position, Melissa will lead our sustainability efforts and drive the development of new initiatives that align with our mission of reducing waste and promoting sustainability. Before joining Wastebits, Melissa served as Director of Supply Chain Compliance for a global industrial & construction supply distribution company, where she was responsible for developing and implementing enterprise-wide risk mitigation and ESG solutions to hundreds of national and government customers.

The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced a proposed ban on ongoing uses of chrysotile asbestos, the only form that is still imported into America. This new rule would be issued under TSCA and comes as an outcome of the 2016 Lautenberg Act overhaul which gave EPA more power to regulate chemicals in use today.

Tornadoes can be a devastating event for many people. Not only do they destroy property and ruin lives, but they also leave behind a lot of debris that needs to be cleaned up. Cleaning up after a tornado is not just about removing the physical objects left on the ground - it's also about disposing of any hazardous materials. In this blog post, we will cover safety tips for cleaning up after a tornado as well as how to properly dispose of your waste from cleanup efforts!

Asbestos is a mineral that has been used for many years in both commercial building construction and insulation due to its fire-resistant properties. It was once hailed as the “miracle mineral” but, because of potential health risks, it is now banned in most countries. Friable asbestos can be crumbled with your hands while non-friable asbestos cannot be crushed by hand. If you are unsure if there might be any friable or non-friable asbestos on your property, contact an environmental consultant to help you identify the material and dispose of it properly.

Waste manifests are required by RCRA, and they follow waste shipments from creation to disposal. Filling them out accurately is crucial for compliance, and mis-filled waste manifests are the number one cause of RCRA citations. So getting this right matters a lot.

A brownfield property is a site that has hazardous waste or contaminants. Cleaning up these properties can have many benefits for local economies, such as taxes and jobs. Brownfield properties can:

Every business produces waste, but if your organization creates hazardous waste such as oils, fuels, or chemicals, then you need to ensure that they are being disposed of correctly. However, while images of luminous green ooze in barrels might be the first thing that springs to mind, hazardous waste can also refer to household items such as batteries, motor oil, computers, and cleaning chemicals.

PFAS are a group of chemicals with industrial, commercial and home uses. They’ve been around since the 1930s and started being produced in quantity in the 1950s. Since then they’ve gotten into every corner of our lives, and many processes produce large quantities of PFAS-contaminated waste.

Waste can be broken down into types, based on how the law sees it and how it needs to be processed. Longstanding U.S. laws like 40 CFR part 261.31 define certain types of waste as hazardous. Other regulations define where certain types of waste have to be sent for disposal. Making your way through this maze can be complex, but it doesn’t have to be.