bluehammer
New Member
How do you all handle your solvent waste ink / waste ink bottles when full?
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How to handle solvent Waste Ink
- Thread starter bluehammer
- Start date
The ink itself is pretty inert and if you pour it into kitty litter, once the solvents evaporate, you can just throw it away.
Most communities have drop off days for chemicals and industrial wastes in small amounts. Our community accepts it for free, so we bring it there, but I've heard many folks use the oil dry or kitty litter method.
Most communities have drop off days for chemicals and industrial wastes in small amounts. Our community accepts it for free, so we bring it there, but I've heard many folks use the oil dry or kitty litter method.
Gino
Premium Subscriber
According to most of the people on this site and the people selling these machines/inks, this stuff should be safe to drink. I say, add some ice cubes and start naming your drinks. It'll stick to your innards.
If what was said above was true, you could just as well pour it onto the ground, let it dry and you're done. You can't just throw it away, it must be taken to a hazardous waste type of place. Our area has that twice a year and we take quite a bit down there, not to mention other things from the shop.
If what was said above was true, you could just as well pour it onto the ground, let it dry and you're done. You can't just throw it away, it must be taken to a hazardous waste type of place. Our area has that twice a year and we take quite a bit down there, not to mention other things from the shop.
chrisphilipps
Merchant Member
We fill up a 55 gallon drum and call Veolia to come and swap it out for a new one. It costs around $300 for the service.
ColorCrest
All around shop helper.
Higher volume shops sometimes use the same service that commercial printers use. The service provide a choice of drum size and swap out on their route when necessary.
Solventinkjet
DIY Printer Fixing Guide
It's perfectly fine to let the solvents evaporate into the air and then toss the left over pigments. If you pour it into the ground, the solvents get into the water supply which is a big no no. I service machines and have customers all over the country. I would say at least 95% of them are using the kitty litter method and the EPA hasn't shut them down yet!
Solventinkjet
DIY Printer Fixing Guide
Good idea. My kid works for the Penna EPA. I'm gonna ask him this weekend.
When he worked for us, we did a lotta signs for the EPA.... and still do, and that's some of how he got interested in that kinda stuff, plus he's a tree hugger.
Let us know what he says!
MikePro
New Member
+1 just gotta let the solvents dry-out/evaporate and its safe to simply throw-away.
+1 definitely don't pour it out on the ground, until it is dry it is considered hazardous waste and you will face hefty fines....and the pigments that remain will find a hundred ways to haunt you.
...same goes with ink cartridges, similiar to paint cans, you CANNOT simply toss "empty" cartridges in the trash. you need to cut them open to allow the solvents in the mylar bags to evaporate, or hand them off to the proper recycling services.
we have an automotive spray booth, and a 55gallon drum for excess paints/solvents. so i've always been fortunate to just add my waste ink to that collection service, but the cartridges I used to band-saw them in half & pour what i could into it before allowing them to dry and throw in the dumpster.
+1 definitely don't pour it out on the ground, until it is dry it is considered hazardous waste and you will face hefty fines....and the pigments that remain will find a hundred ways to haunt you.
...same goes with ink cartridges, similiar to paint cans, you CANNOT simply toss "empty" cartridges in the trash. you need to cut them open to allow the solvents in the mylar bags to evaporate, or hand them off to the proper recycling services.
we have an automotive spray booth, and a 55gallon drum for excess paints/solvents. so i've always been fortunate to just add my waste ink to that collection service, but the cartridges I used to band-saw them in half & pour what i could into it before allowing them to dry and throw in the dumpster.
chrisphilipps
Merchant Member
I know in Morris County, NJ the cat litter trick is a no no. About 6 to 8 years ago someone from the county went to all the industrial complexes to see if they had hazardous materials and how they were being disposed of. We were doing the cat liter trick back then and told him this. He gave us a warning that this was unacceptable and gave us a year to get in compliance. He did in fact follow up a year later and we had to provide him documentation from Veolia proving that we dispose of it thru them. The reason he said that the cat litter didn't work is the solvents might be gone but that other chemicals in the ink can still leach out of the cat litter in the dumps and get into the water table.
BIG EASY DOES IT
New Member
EPA!!!!!!!!!!! I applaud his efforts to be kind to the planet. But the EPA? Wasted money, nonsense regulations. I can't even get a 5 gallon bucket of denatured alcohol in california anymore because of the EPA. Aggghhhhhhhh......
GAC05
Quit buggin' me
Sounds like your NA Dept might be in bed with 'Big Litter'.
greysquirrel
New Member
The proper way is to have a drum on the premises and pay for proper disposal...any reseller looking to sell a unit will tell you kitty liter...unproper ways of disposal will come back to haunt you usually through a disgruntled employee or former employee that calls the 1800 number for the epaulet and reports you. The epa comes onsite...inspects and if they find solution in your drains or ground break open your checkbook. That $300 every 2 years will feel like a cup of coffee compared to the fines they impose.