How to select a Service Provider

The best Service Provider for you isn't necessarily the least expensive one. Don't trade short-term cost savings for long-term liabilities. If more than one Service Provider handles your waste (for example, if one Service Provider transports it and another recycles it), make sure each one is reputable.

When you interview a Service Provider, ask some questions:

• Can the Service Provider provide the names and phone numbers of current customers (similar to you) as references?
  Check with the references to see how satisfied they are with the company's services. Be sure the company has experience with wastes like yours.
  
• Does the Service Provider have adequate insurance?
  In addition to general commercial liability insurance, Service Providers should have coverage for pollution caused by spills while hauling waste. Be sure you are not liable.
  
• Where do your wastes go?
  Companies will haul waste from your shop to their own or another treatment, storage and/or disposal (TSD) facility. Hazardous wastes can be reprocessed, recycled, blended into fuels, incinerated or buried in certain landfills.
  
• What documentation and other paperwork are provided?
  Service Providers may help you prepare manifests and other papers, but because you sign them, you need to be sure they are accurate. Manifests and receipts track your waste from your site, to the hauler, to the receiving facility. Get copies of the manifest and receipts from the hauler and the TSD facility and keep these at least five years. Better yet, keep them forever. If you are a small quantity generator, you do not need to manifest the waste you ship. However, a manifest provides you with added protection. (Note: Small quantity generators do not need a RCRA site identification number to use a manifest. Just write "SQG" or "CESQG" on the manifest form.) Service Providers may also help you with other paperwork, including the Department of Ecology's annual generator report.
  
• How much will the services cost?
  The total cost of handling your waste can include a number of fees: a waste profile or lab fee, a hauling charge (sometimes called a stop charge), a disposal fee and a drum replacement charge. Ask Service Providers what they charge for each of the above items. Ask which charges are one-time and which are on going. Find out if there are any other fees you must pay.
  
• Does the Service Provider charge more for managing the following contaminants?

Chlorinated solvents? Most Service Providers charge more if hazardous liquids contain chlorinated solvents. Small amounts of these solvents can contaminate an entire drum or tank of other types of waste. To avoid contamination, know your chemicals. Look for the term "chloro-" in the list of ingredients on the container or on the material safety data sheet and avoid mixing those solvents with other wastes.

Water? Fluids containing large concentrations of water (usually more than 10 percent) cannot be burned for fuel recovery. The more water, the higher the cost for disposal.

Heavy metals? While the presence of metals may not affect disposal costs, additional lab testing may be required. Ask your Service Provider.

• What recycling credits are provided?
  If your waste is recycled into usable product, you can get a credit against the total amount of waste you produced that year. You can use the credit when filing reports with the Department of Ecology. This is especially important to businesses that produce more than 2,640 pounds a year (about 5-6 drums) and have to write a pollution prevention plan. Recycling credits can reduce your fees and possibly drop you below the pollution prevention planning threshold.