Abstract
Waste minimization plays a key part in U. S. planning for hazardous waste management. This paper examines the effectiveness of waste minimization policies and regulations by considering waste minimization measures implemented by industrial metal finishing facilities in the San Francisco Bay Area of California. The research identifies activities that manufacturers report they have implemented for the purpose of minimizing hazardous waste. In a sample of 26 facilities, a total of 52 waste minimization activities are identified and are described in this paper, divided into three general categories: process changes, maintenance of processes or facilities, and on-site treatment of pretreatment. The research concludes that hazardous waste minimization has not fully penetrated the industry, based on two pieces of evidence: Some technologically advanced measures have been implemented at some facilities, suggesting they have been demonstrated to be technologically effective and economically attractive in some facilities, but are not in place at all facilities; and some simple measures, of the kind that would be implemented early in a facility's waste minimization program, are only now being implemented at some facilities.
