The Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control, Compliance and Permitting Section provides the following guidance on the management of cloth wipes, including shop towels, and rags contaminated with hazardous wastes identified via characteristic or listing in the Delaware Regulations Governing Hazardous Waste (7 DE Admin. Code 1302).

The State of Delaware has not adopted the Solvent-Contaminated Wipes Final Rule.

In Delaware, wipes that are no longer suitable for use (e.g., soiled or contaminated) are considered a solid waste. A person generating wipes must make a hazardous waste determination, and when a wipe is hazardous, manage the wipe in accordance with Delaware’s hazardous waste regulations.

Wipes exhibiting a characteristic of ignitability, corrosivity, reactivity or toxicity (TCLP), are regulated as solid waste and hazardous waste. Wipes containing listed hazardous waste are also regulated has hazardous waste, unless the waste was listed solely for a hazardous waste characteristic that the wipe no longer exhibits.

Wipes contaminated with non-free flowing quantities of oil or grease, that are not otherwise hazardous waste, may be laundered provided the resulting wastewater is directed to a system regulated by a Clean Water Act program.

Disclaimer: The information above is intended to serve as a guide to responsible waste management and does not supersede the Delaware Regulations Governing Hazardous Waste (7 DE Admin. Code 1302).

Related Topics:  hazardous, Health and Safety, permitting and regulation, waste, waste and hazardous substances, waste management, wipes