- Most solvent-contaminated wipes are not considered hazardous wastes.
Industrial wipes, or shop rags and towels, are used every day by thousands of commercial and industrial facilities across the United States. When wipes become contaminated with hazardous substances, whether through regular work processes or from cleaning a spill, they must be treated in the same way as the hazardous substance.
That means that if the substance on the wipe is a listed waste (40 CFR Part 261 Subpart D) or if it exhibits a hazardous characteristic (ignitability, corrosivity, reactivity, or toxicity), consider the wipe to be a hazardous waste.
The solvent-contaminated wipes rule
Under an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rule that went into effect in January 2014, most solvent-contaminated wipes are not considered hazardous wastes. In order to qualify for the exemption, the wipes may only be contaminated with certain solvents. The wipes cannot be contaminated with a hazardous waste other than a solvent, or with a substance that exhibits another characteristic such as toxicity, corrosivity, or reactivity due to contaminants other than solvents; these wipes must be managed as hazardous wastes.
The exclusions apply to wipes containing one or more F001-F005 solvents listed in 261.31 or the corresponding P- or U-listed solvents found in 261.33, including:
