Sandoz Crop Protection

Year Submitted: 2003

Process: Chemical Storage and Delivery

Industry: Agricultural Chemical Manufacturing

Wastes Reduced: VOC Emissions

Substance: Chlorinated Organics

Equipment: Acid Furnace

Location: Beaumont TX

No. of employees: 300

Contact: Rob Swinney

Phone: (409) 722-8061

Description:

Our facility manufactures four agricultural herbicides and one insecticide product. The manufacturing processes generate both hazardous and non-hazardous waste chlorinated compounds which at one time were all being transported offiste for incineration and landfill. In 1990 an onsite facility was engineered and constructed to thermally destroy the chlorinated waste compounds while at the same time recovering the chlorine, hydrogen, and oxygen to produce 14% aqueous hydrochloric acid for use as a raw material in one of the manufacturing processes.

P2 Application:

Rather than disposing of the waste or just incinerating the compounds, a useful product is generated in the process which can be used on site.

Environmental Benefits:

From 1990 through 1993 the facility generated over 12,700,000 pounds of waste chlorinated compounds. Over 16,000 tons of hydrochloric acid was produced from that waste and used as a raw material in the manufacturing process.

Details of Reductions

Additional Information :

The disposal cost for these compunds would have been $4,000,000 and the additional purchases of HCl would have amounted to $2,000,000. The initial cost of the unit was $6.5 million and it has an operating budget of $1.3 million per year.

Source: TCEQ