Jerseydaze
Senior Member
I am bidding a job I will be changing 81-4' layin fixtures i need to properly dispose of ballasts and tubes anyone have experience with a disposal company in north Jersey
Properly dispose of ballasts PCB in Jersey
- Thread starter Jerseydaze
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Volta
Senior Member
- Location
- Columbus, Ohio
Do you know that they are older than '78 or so? Not all leaking oily substances from those caps are PCBs.
Dcs
Dcs
I've used Disposal Consultant Services several times:
http://www.labpack.net/
They're in Piscataway, but they can definitely service your job in North Jersey. You'll save some money if you can take the stuff to them, rather than having them send a truck to you. They'll take the ballasts too but if they're not clearly labeled "No PCB's" they'll charge you for the PCB variety. The last job like this I did I called several scrap yards until I found one that would actually take the ballasts. So I made money on them rather than pay to get rid of them! The lamps are a different story though. You'll pay about 20 cents a foot to dispose of fluorescent lamps, if I recall correctly.
Dcs
I've used Disposal Consultant Services several times:
http://www.labpack.net/
They're in Piscataway, but they can definitely service your job in North Jersey. You'll save some money if you can take the stuff to them, rather than having them send a truck to you. They'll take the ballasts too but if they're not clearly labeled "No PCB's" they'll charge you for the PCB variety. The last job like this I did I called several scrap yards until I found one that would actually take the ballasts. So I made money on them rather than pay to get rid of them! The lamps are a different story though. You'll pay about 20 cents a foot to dispose of fluorescent lamps, if I recall correctly.
Jerseydaze
Senior Member
Ballasts are from 1974 and not maked "no pcbs" will a scrap yard take them?
Volta
Senior Member
- Location
- Columbus, Ohio
Hope not. Consider them having PCBs then. I think Advance claims not to have ever had PCBs in thier ballasts, but doesn't really matter. They should be handled as if they do.
Here is an EPA page that provides various links to laws, recyclers, and general info.
While rare short term contact may not be a major problem, it is considered a carcinogen, so you should find some gloves that will act as a reliable barrier for an eight hour shift (not latex). I had to work with my local safety supplier a bit, but they found some.
Rubbing alcohol will work to clean small drips, and the used paper towels can be tossed in with the ballasts.
Volta
Senior Member
- Location
- Columbus, Ohio
You want the recycler to provide you with a certificate stating that the "Universal Waste" has been properly disposed of. There are several acceptable ways. It can, I think, be legal for them to be placed in barriered landfills, but your liability will be ongoing as a handler of the waste.
Normal incineration is about the worst way, and I doubt that it complies with EPA regulations, but a special high-temperature incineration, on the other hand, can completely destroy the PolyChorinated Biphenyls and then will never hit the watershed.
Normal incineration is about the worst way, and I doubt that it complies with EPA regulations, but a special high-temperature incineration, on the other hand, can completely destroy the PolyChorinated Biphenyls and then will never hit the watershed.
K2X
Senior Member
- Location
- Colorado Springs
A leaking ballast generally does not equal leaking pcb's. If I remember my safety class the pcb's, which can be a few drops to a quarter oz., are encapsulated with the capacitor and rarely leak. There has never been a great urgency to remove these ballast because the pcb's are considered safe when they are 9 ft in the air and undisturbed. Leaking tar can be very messy. Unsecured ballast in the hands of children, whether pcb or non pcb's, can do $21,000 worth of damage to school windows in one night. 
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