Recent EPA Actions Put Laundered Shop Towels in the Spotlight

In two separate actions from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency last week, EPA highlighted the industrial laundry industry directly and indirectly. EPA’s indirect reference came in the form of a new regulation that defines solid waste under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA).

The direct reference comes as a press release announcing nearly a half-million dollars in fines that EPA levied against G&K Services — a major industrial launderer — for "numerous" hazardous waste violations committed by two of the company’s facilities in California.

With regard to the new regulation, EPA has outlined a process that allows hazardous material to be excluded from RCRA requirements so long as certain conditions are met. The conditions, however, as outlined by EPA are far more complicated and potentially expensive than those currently used by industrial laundries to avoid RCRA.

Once EPA eventually issues its long-awaited regulation on wiping products, which is also expected to exempt laundered shop towels from the RCRA definition of solid waste, SMART will be able to point to the rule that was announced this week and insist that laundries meet these new requirements which would force the laundry industry to absorb the extra costs and meet other regulatory requirements.

As for G&K, the company received fines of $425,000 on October 6 based on EPA inspections of their facilities in Santa Fe Springs, California in February 2007 and Pittsburg, California in March.

According to EPA, the two locations were not controlling air emissions from solvent-laden shop towels. In addition, EPA noted that "The facilities are also large quantity generators of hazardous wastes including solvent, volatile organics — benzene, chloroform, and trichloroethylene — used oil, used oil filters, spent fluorescent lamps, and spent antifreeze." As of October 10, G&K had not posted a press release responding to EPA’s action.