A Pollution Prevention Guide for Automotive Repair Shops

Automotive Repair Shops

Automobile repair shops produce many types of waste -- some hazardous, some not necessarily hazardous but still potentially damaging to the environment if not handled properly, and all requiring proper treatment and/or disposal at significant cost to the business. A list of the types of waste that the shop owner or manager must contend with would include:

• solvents (paints and paint thinners)
• antifreeze
• scrap metal
• batteries and other auto parts
• oils and oil filters
• fuels of various types
• acids and alkalis (contaminated rags and towels)

Whatever the nature and characteristics of the waste may be, it all has one thing in common: All waste represents loss of resources and loss of money.

The most effective way to minimize these losses associated with waste is to avoid producing the waste in the first place. This is the concept behind DNREC’s Pollution Prevention and Compliance Assistance Program, which has produced this Fact Sheet to assist you and others in the automobile repair business to reduce your losses while at the same time helping to improve the environment.

Businesses throughout the country have implemented waste reduction programs and found that there are many benefits to be gained from such an approach to the management of resources. Reducing the amount of waste your business generates can help you:

• reduce operating costs
• reduce waste disposal costs
• reduce long-term liability
• help sustain environmental quality
• improve workplace safety and health
• project a positive public image

Getting Started

Getting off to a good start is crucial to the success of any endeavor. Here are some important things to consider in undertaking a waste reduction program:

• Make a commitment to pollution prevention. This commitment must start at the top, with the owner or manager of the shop, and extend to every employee.
• Involve the employees in designing and implementing pollution prevention measures.
• Provide training in waste reduction techniques and practices. Don’t let this be a one-shot effort -- “periodic refresher courses” will help to increase employees’ awareness of the importance of waste reduction.
• Establish incentives to encourage workers to use waste reduction techniques and to suggest changes, in design or operating procedures that would further reduce waste generation.
• Assess the shop’s waste. Identify sources, types, and amounts of waste being produced. This will make it easier to pinpoint areas where waste reduction techniques can be applied and to measure the success of your efforts.

Establishing Good Housekeeping Practices

Improving a business’s housekeeping practices is often the easiest and least expensive way to reduce waste. Good housekeeping includes good inventory control and efficient operating procedures. Here are some housekeeping tips:

• Keep storage and work areas clean and well organized, and keep all containers properly labeled.
• Inspect materials upon delivery, and immediately return unacceptable materials to the supplier.
• Keep accurate records of material usage so that you can measure reductions in use. Mark the purchase date on each container and adopt a “first in, first out” policy so that older materials are used up before new ones are opened; assigns someone to distribute and keep track of the materials.
• Locate and repair all leaks to prevent loss of raw materials. Practice preventive maintenance to avoid future losses.
• Keep all containers covered to prevent evaporation and spillage.
• Keep waste streams separate to increase their potential for reuse, recycling, or treatment. Don’t allow non-hazardous materials to become contaminated with hazardous materials, as this will result in all of the waste needing to be treated as hazardous waste.
• Install flow meters, flow control devices, and shut-off nozzles to cut down on water usage.

Solvents -- Reducing, Reusing, and Recycling

Auto repair shops typically use solvents in a variety of operations, including parts cleaning, degreasing, and painting. Many of these solvents, may be classified as hazardous waste, and may therefore require expensive treatment and/or disposal. A number of pollution prevention strategies can be used to reduce both the toxicity and the quantity of spent solvents requiring disposal:

• Try to find one multi-purpose solvent that can serve a variety of uses, rather than having a different solvent for each operation. This will minimize the number of waste streams and increase the recycling potential of the spent solvent.
• Substitute less hazardous substitutes for solvent cleaners. Consider water-based cleaners or water-soluble cutting fluids, or install a pressure wash system if feasible.
• Extend the life of solvent baths. Some ways to do this are by pre-cleaning parts with rags before placing them in the bath (then having the rags cleaned for reuse) or by using old solvent as a pre-soak to remove most of the dirt or grease before introducing the parts into the fresh bath.
• Minimize the amount of cleaning solvent lost during drainage of cleaned parts. Remove parts from the bath slowly to prevent spillage; install drip trays or racks near the bath for draining cleaned parts; return the drainage to the bath.
• Use on-site recovery techniques to make solvents reusable. Consider leasing or purchasing solvent recovery equipment. Common methods of recovery are:
• Decanting -- drawing off liquids from the settled sludge. Alternatively, the bottom sludge may be drained out.
• Filtration -- passing solvent through a porous medium to remove the solids.
• Distillation -- separating liquids from each other by taking advantage of their different boiling points.

If the solvents cannot be made reusable, try to find a way to recycle them. One possibility for accomplishing this is to purchase solvents from a company that will pick up and recycle the spent solvent.

Applying the Three Rs to Other Shop Wastes

Oils

• Use drip pans to catch lube oils for reuse. Handle oils carefully to avoid spillage.
• Contract with a reputable recycler to collect your used oil. You may be able to obtain information about oil recycling from the national Oil Recyclers Association, 2777 Broadway Ave., Cleveland, OH 44115.

Caustic cleaners

• Substitute detergent-based solution for caustic cleaning solution.
• Clean parts mechanically, rather than chemically, whenever possible.

Other

• Use paints with higher solids content, or water-based paints with no solvent, whenever possible.
• Collect all scrap metal and take it to a metal recycler.
• Make sure all freon is properly handled and recycled. Even small amounts of freon pose a serious environmental threat because of their tremendous potential for destruction of stratospheric ozone.
• Arrange to have waste antifreeze picked up by a recycler.
• Consider recycling scrap tires. Depending on the shop’s location and the number of tires collected, it may be cost effective to contract with a tire retreader/recycler to take the tires, rather than send them to a landfill. The Solid and Hazardous Waste Management Branch of DNREC can supply names of companies that accept waste tires call 739-3689.

Following up

As long as wastes are being produced, there is the potential for waste reduction. Less-polluting materials, equipment, and procedures are constantly being developed, so that wastes that are difficult or costly to control today may be easily eliminated tomorrow. Stay alert for such developments.

When buying new equipment, look for equipment that will minimize both the amount of toxic materials used and the amount of waste produced.

Reassess the shop’s operations and waste handling practices periodically. A successful program requires diligence so as to avoid the temptation of slipping back into old more wasteful ways of doing things and to identify additional waste reduction possibilities.

Publicize the shop’s commitment to waste reduction. Customers will feel good about doing business with a company that is environmentally responsible.

Sources of Additional Help

This Fact Sheet is not intended to be a comprehensive list of all of the techniques that could be used to reduce waste in an automobile repair shop. As each shop is unique, with its own combination of wastes and its own individual way of doing business, so will each waste reduction program be different from all others. A number of resources are available to help you develop, and implement a program that will meet your shop’s individual needs:

• The Northeast Industrial Waste Exchange may be able to help you find companies that can use your wastes. You can call the Exchange directly at (315) 422-6572.
• The Delaware Manufacturing Extension Partnership is a private, non-profit corporation which is dedicated to improving the quality, productivity, and profitability of Delaware manufacturers, and to serving as a prime service resource for the state’s new and existing manufacturers. The DEMEP can be reached at (302) 283-3133.
• The Automotive Service Association (ASA) and other trade associations may be able to provide additional helpful information to automobile repair shops interested in reducing their wastes. The ASA can be reached by calling (817) 283-6205.
• The Delaware Pollution Prevention and Compliance Assistance Program in the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (302) 739-6400 provides technical assistance, information resources, as well as assistance with other services that are available to your business. 

Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control

This publication is one of a series of pollution, prevention guides for various types of businesses. For more information on this and other pollution prevention or waste reduction efforts, contact the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control at 739-6400.

The Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control is an equal opportunity employer. No person or group shall be excluded from participation, denied any benefits, or subjected to discrimination on the basis of race, color national origin, or handicap.

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