Used rags and absorbents are used at service stations, auto repair and body shops, and other small businesses to clean up leaks and spills. Vehicle and equipment maintenance, fluid servicing and many other activities generate a lot of used rags and absorbents. Rags are used to apply cleaning solvents to parts and to wipe dirt, grease, oil, and solvents off.
Absorbents
There are two main kinds of absorbents:
Absorbent fabrics
These often can be laundered and reused after the contaminant is wrung out or removed.
- Pads
- Sheets
- Rolls and blankets
- Socks and tubes
- Absorbent pillows
- Booms
Disposable granular absorbents
Are used to clean up leaks and spills and may consist of:
- Wood chips or fibers
- Corn cobs
- Peat
- Sawdust
- Cork
- Clay
- Paper wipes and towels
- Plastic
- Diatomaceous earth
- Pumice
- Rice and cotton seed hulls
Some granular absorbents are made from recycled materials and can be reused or burned for energy recovery. It is wise to choose absorbents that can be reused or have the potential for a beneficial purpose.
Management of Used Rags
The easiest and most efficient way to handle used rags is to launder them and use a laundry service to save you money in the long run. Laundering saves you the costs of buying replacement rags as well as disposal costs. If used rags are not laundered, they are considered solid hazardous waste.
Laundry Service
- Check with your laundry service to learn any restrictions or special handling methods.
- Be sure to check on any local handling, manifest, and transportation requirements which apply to rags that are contaminated with certain types of materials.
- You cannot send rags that are soaked and dripping with a contaminant to the laundry.
- Remove as much solution from the rags as possible by wringing them out or squeezing them.
- Use a centrifuge or some type of wringing equipment to recover used solvent from rags, wipers, and towels.
- Saved the used solution for recycling.
- Do not dump these used solutions together into one container.
- Store different contaminants in separate, labeled containers.
- Keep all used absorbents containing hazardous substances separate from nonhazardous used absorbents.
- If you launder your own used rags in your shop, contact your local water treatment department to see if it can handle the wastewater that your operation generates.
- Is water pre-treatment required?
- DO NOT launder your own rags if your wastewater does not discharge to some form of treatment facility.
- Used Rags Contaminated With Oil
- As much oil as possible should be removed by wringing it out.
- Send the rags to your laundry service.
- Used Rags Contaminated With Solvents and Other Chemicals
- Remove as much solvent as possible by wringing or use a machine such as a centrifuge.
- Store each used hazardous material separately from the others.
- Send to your laundry service.
The most effective way to control costs and the potential of damage to the environment is to reduce the amount of used rags and absorbents that you generate. Teach employees how to reduce leaks and spills and use equipment that is designed for this purpose.
