TRI Pollution Prevention Report for SAFT AMERICA INC and Nitric acid

Facility ID: 31601SFTMR711IN

Facility Name and Address:
SAFT AMERICA INC
711 GIL HARBIN INDUSTRIAL BLVD
VALDOSTA, GA 31601

Parent Company: SAFT AMERICA INC

Industry: Storage Battery Manufacturing (335911)
Chemical: Nitric acid

Production Related Waste Management for Selected Chemical


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    Waste Management Comparison - 2021



Pollution Prevention Activities for Selected Chemical


Reporting Year Section 8.10: Newly Implemented Source Reduction Activity Section 8.10: Methods to Identify Activity Section 8.11: Optional Pollution Prevention Information*
2022
2021
2019 Barriers: B7-Barriers to P2 B7 - No known substitutes or alternative technologies.

Barriers to P2: B7 - No known substitutes or alternative technologies. - Nitric acid is essential to our chemical preparations, production processes, and wastewater treatment operations.

2018 Barriers: B7-Barriers to P2 B7 - No known substitutes or alternative technologies.

Barriers to P2: B7 - No known substitutes or alternative technologies. - Nitric acid is essential to our chemical preparations and processing.

2014 Source Reduction:: W13: Improved maintenance scheduling, recordkeeping, or procedures[-15-24%]


Methods to Identify SR Opportunities: T01: Internal pollution prevention opportunity audit(s)
Methods to Identify SR Opportunities: T02: External pollution prevention opportunity audit(s)
Methods to Identify SR Opportunities: T05: Employee recommendation (independent of a formal company program)
2013 Source Reduction:: W13: Improved maintenance scheduling, recordkeeping, or procedures
Methods to Identify SR Opportunities: T02: External pollution prevention opportunity audit(s)
W13: See above comments

Source Reduction - See above comments
Other Environmental Practices - Hired consultant to audit wastewater treatment system operation for improvement, and improved wastewater treatment system operating practices by reducing the flow rate to allow for continuous operation at a more constant flow rate, change filter press operation to produce a solids-free filtrate, change bag filtration to process water through a 25-micron bag filter followed by a 10-micron bag filter, added better controls for mixing polyelectrolyte and improved polyelectrolyte feed rate. Releases to the Mud Creek POTW were improved significantly. The use of nitric acid and sodium hydroxide for correcting system upsets (dissolution and re-precipitation) has been greatly reduced yielded significant cost savings. The initial ideas had been proposed by an employee, Brian Nash. A consultant, Blase Butts with Cedar with CedarChem, performed the audit and provided improvement specifications. The activity was implemented to improve wastewater treatment system performance, to reduce the amount of cadmium, nickel and cobalt being discharged, and to reduce the excessive use of nitric acid and sodium hydroxide for resetting the system when it was not performing well due to too much treated water being returned from the filter press to the E-tanks, the excessive use of polyelectrolyte, and running the system at too high a flow rate which resulted in a start/stop/start/stop type of operation.
2011 Source Reduction:: W82: Modified design or composition of product
Methods to Identify SR Opportunities: T11: Other
W82: See optional information field.

Source Reduction - Beginning January 2011, we stopped producing our telecommunications "NCX" battery. We continue to manufacture a telecommunications "Tel.X" cell which is a modified version of our now obsolete NCX cell. The positive and negative electrodes for the Tel.X product is imported from France. This change has reduced the amount of nickel, cadmium, cobalt, nitric acid, and ammonia we use. Tel.X battery production began in 2007. Tel.X and NCX batteries were produced during 2008, 2009, and 2010. NCX production stopped on December 31, 2010. The NCX positive plate manufacturing process used more cobalt than than other Ni-Cd battery products. Stopping NCX production resulted in a significant decrease in cobalt use during 2011.
1998 Source Reduction:: W39: Other spill or leak prevention
Methods to Identify SR Opportunities: T04: Participative team management
1997 Source Reduction:: W39: Other spill or leak prevention
Methods to Identify SR Opportunities: T04: Participative team management
1995 Source Reduction:: W13: Improved maintenance scheduling, recordkeeping, or procedures


Source Reduction:: W32: Improved procedures for loading, unloading, and transfer operations

Methods to Identify SR Opportunities: T01: Internal pollution prevention opportunity audit(s)
Methods to Identify SR Opportunities: T04: Participative team management
Methods to Identify SR Opportunities: T11: Other
Methods to Identify SR Opportunities: T01: Internal pollution prevention opportunity audit(s)
Methods to Identify SR Opportunities: T04: Participative team management
*Classifications of Optional Pollution Prevention Information shown in brackets are provided by EPA.


TRI Pollution Prevention Glossary

The Waste Management Hierarchy

The waste management hierarchy established by the Pollution Prevention Act (PPA) guides waste generators toward the best options for managing wastes. The preferred option is to prevent pollution at its source, but for waste that is generated, the preferred management methods are recycling, followed by burning for energy recovery, treatment and, as a last resort, disposing of the waste.
  • Source Reduction includes activities that eliminate or reduce the generation of chemical waste.
  • Recycling includes the recovery of a toxic chemical in waste for reuse.
  • Energy Recovery includes the combustion of toxic chemicals in waste to generate heat or electricity.
  • Treatment includes the destruction of a toxic chemical in waste.
  • Disposal or Other Releases includes toxic chemical quantities entering the environment.
The PPA requires facilities to provide the following details about each chemical they report to TRI:
Facilities may also provide optional Pollution Prevention Information describing their source reduction, recycling, or pollution control activities.