Universal Waste Rules and How They Affect a Printer

Abstract

The Universal Waste Rules (UWR's) were promulgated by U.S. EPA on May 11, 1995. The UWR's regulate and encourage recycling of hazardous waste nickel-cadmium and other batteries, certain types of waste pesticides, mercury containing thermostats and HID lamps (mercury vapor, metal halide, and high pressure-sodium). The goal of the UWR's is to encourage resource conservation while adequately protecting human health and the environment; improving the EPA's current hazardous waste regulatory program and provide individuals and organizations incentives to collect unregulated portions of these waste streams and manage them the same way the regulated wastes are, thereby removing these wastes from the municipal waste stream (keep them out of the landfills). The Universal Waste classification can help reduce the amount of reportable hazardous waste a printer generates.