34    STUDY AND IMPLEMENTATION OF  WASTE
MINIMIZATION AT IBM AUSTIN
David R. Wilkes, Senior Engineer
J. M. Montgomery Engineers
250 North Madison Avenue
Pasadena, California 91101
Marilyn K. Young, Senior Associate Engineer
IBM Corporation
11400 Burnet Road
Austin, Texas 78758
INTRODUCTION
IBM contracted with Engineering-Science in the fall of 1985 for a study to evaluate all of the waste-
producing processes at its Austin, Texas, facility for potential ways to improve waste management,
principally through waste reduction. The objective of this effort centered around a comprehensive
and thorough evaluation of alternative waste management procedures for each waste stream, motivated by potential savings on waste management costs but also the reduction of liability at disposal
sites. The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) mandated minimization programs (1984
amendments), and, of major importance, reduced environmental impact from plant operations. A
program of implementation was recommended by Engineering-Science as part of the study.
Following the study, IBM staff enhanced its waste management programs based on Engineering-
Science recommendations as well as their own ideas. These enhancements included establishing a
waste minimization task force to track project status and savings, developing waste specific accounting techniques and establishing a direct costing strategy as well as updating the site operating procedures addressing waste management, updating the waste analysis plan, and the audit and inspection
program.
The IBM Austin facility is a large manufacturing plant with approximately 7,000 employees. The
processes at the plant generate a variety of hazardous and nonhazardous wastes. In terms of volume,
the largest category of wastes is process wastewater. Another large volume waste is wastewater
treatment sludge generated from the onsite facility. Other types of wastes include spent solvents, used
oil, scrap copper, laboratory wastes, soldering residues, and dilute organic wastewaters.
Waste management methods range from onsite solvent recovery to offsite incineration. Onsite
treatment is used for the majority of the high volume liquid hazardous waste streams. For both
hazardous and nonhazardous drummed wastes, the predominant method is offsite disposal followed
by offsite reclamation/recycle. The number and types of waste management methods used for both
hazardous and nonhazardous waste at the initiation of this study are shown in Figure 1.
A summary of the literature review and an outline of the waste stream analysis procedures are
presented. Results and conclusions of the initial study are discussed. Conclusions regarding the
success of the implemented program are also provided.
LITERATURE REVIEW SUMMARY
Because the emphasis on waste minimization is rather recent, there were few references available
when this study was initiated. However, this situation is changing principally because of the RCRA
waste minimization mandate and the associated reporting requirements, and the many benefits to the
generator and to the public health and welfare realized from reduced waste production. A majority of
the sources reviewed pertained to wastewater reduction and/or recycle methods, but recent studies
addressed source reduction and general waste management methods.
For wastewater processes, IBM had already implemented many of the modifications discussed in
the literature including the use of counterflow, multiple tank rinse systems instead of individual tanks,
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