E AP Project Summary

United States

Environmental Protection

Agency

Pollution Prevention Opportunity

Assessment: General Mail and

Vehicle Maintenance Facility,

United States Postal Service,

Buffalo, NY

Risk Reduction

Engineering Laboratory

Cincinnati, OH 45268

Research and Development

The Pollution Prevention Opportunity

Assessment (PPOA) summarized here

was conducted at a U.S. Postal Service

(USPS) Facility in Buffalo, NY. The

PPOA documented and quantified

waste generation at the General Mail

Facility (GMF) where mail is processed,

and at the Vehicle Maintenance Facility

(VMF), where 1,200 postal vehicles are

serviced and refinished. The report

identified potential source reduction

and recycling initiatives, as well as areas where further research is needed.

The economic and technical feasibility

of selected opportunities and techniques to eliminate, reduce, or recycle

wastes were investigated. A limited

implementation plan was developed.

This Project Summary was developed

by EPA’s Risk Reduction Engineering

Laboratory, Cincinnati, OH, to announce

key findings of the research project

that is fully documented in a separate

report of the same title (see Project

Report ordering information at back).

Introduction

This PPOA of the USPS GMF and VMF

in Buffalo, NY, was conducted for the U.S.

Environmental Protection Agency (Region

II) and the USPS (Northeast Region) to

investigate potential pollution prevention

alternatives for GMF mail processing operations and VMF vehicle servicing and

refinishing operations.

The PPOA report identifies and discusses the economic and technical feasibility of potential source reduction and

recycling opportunities and presents a limited implementation plan. It should be

noted that although USPS facilities were

the subject of the assessment, the alternatives presented also apply to commercial package handling operations, as well

as other government and commercial vehicle servicing facilities.

Procedures

The assessment was conducted using

the procedures outlined in EPA’s Facility

Pollution Prevention Guide (EPA/600/R92/088). The assessment had two major

phases. The first phase quantified waste

generation and management practices.

The second phase identified and evaluated the feasibility of opportunities and

techniques to eliminate, reduce, or recycle

wastes. The project included:

• Selecting assessment targets;

• Assessing onsite pollution prevention

capabilities;

• Generating pollution prevention

options;

• Preparing a feasibility analysis of

selected options;

• Preparing a limited implementation

plan.

The PPOA Team that conducted the

assessment was composed of employees

from an outside environmental consulting

firm and USPS representatives.

Results and Discussion

General Mail Facility

The Buffalo GMF processes 5 million

pieces of mail a day. Three areas are

responsible for generating the majority of

EPA/600/S-95/001 March 1995
2

the facility’s wastes: the offices, the mail

sorting floor, and the unloading and loading docks. The GMF generates approximately 537 tons of waste/yr. Approximately

253 tons is cardboard. Major waste

streams are shown in Table 1. The composition of much of the waste is undetermined; the “missing” tonnage may include

corrugated plastic containers, pallets, aluminum, or metals improperly discarded

instead of recycled, or it may be composed of materials, such as pallets, plastic film, and corrugated cardboard at the

Buffalo facility which is not easily monitored and may have been underestimated.

Annual solid waste disposal costs are approximately $42,000.

Table 1. Estimated Solid Waste Generation,USPS Buffalo General Mail Facility, 1991-

1992

Waste Stream Quantity, tons

Cardboard 253.5

Computer paper 2.0

Mixed office paper 46.0

Aluminum cans 0.6

Other metals 30.0

Plastic film 13.0

Undetermined 191.9

The major recommended source reduction and recycling options are shown below. Discussions for each of the options

are included in the GMF portion of the full

report.

• Establishing recycling programs for

each waste stream;

• Reducing packaging;

• Establishing a duplex copying policy;

• Improving waste management cost

accounting;

• Improving employee involvement in

pollution prevention;

• Changing procurement specifications.

Vehicle Maintenance Facility

The Buffalo VMF operations include vehicle maintenance and automotive refinishing operations. The Buffalo USPS fleet

consists of 1,200 vehicles including passenger cars, trucks, and semi-tractor trailers. Major waste streams generated at

this facility are shown in Table 2. Waste

disposal costs are approximately $21,645

annually.

A number of source reduction and recycling options were identified and are discussed in the full report. Major source

reduction and recycling options are:

• Switching to waterborne low volatile

organic compounds (VOC) paints;

• Using high-volume/low-pressure

(HVLP) spray guns;

• Switching to aqueous cleaners;

• Using a paint mixer system;

• Installing a gun washer station;

• Training operators.

The economic feasibility of the HVLP

spray guns and the paint mixing system is

shown in Table 3.

Conclusions

Postal service employees have enacted

a number of activities to reduce or recycle

VMF and GMF wastes. Additional pollution prevention opportunities to further

eliminate or reduce wastes are identified

in the report. Painting operation and engine and brake parts washing present the

most opportunities for pollution prevention

at the VMF. Waterborne coatings and high

transfer efficiency paint delivery systems

will eliminate or significantly reduce hazardous wastes and VOC emissions from

painting operations. Replacing organic

cleaning solvents with aqueous parts

washers and chemicals will eliminate hazardous solvent wastes from engine and

brake parts washing operations. Enacting

these options can potentially reduce

annual hazardous waste generation by

5,954 lb.

Implementing options recommended in

the report can assist the Buffalo facility

staff in meeting the USPS goal to reduce

1992 waste levels by 25% by 1993 and

an additional 25% by 1995. Eliminating

Table 3. Cost Benefit Analysis for Selected Options

Option Cost Benefit

HVLP paint application system:

 Total annual avoided costs $11,196

 Net annual benefit $ 8,138

 Pay back period Immediate

Gun washer station:

 Total annual avoided costs $ 8,567

 Net annual benefit $ 3,000

 Pay back period Immediate

Table 2. Estimated Waste Generation, USPS Buffalo Vehicle Maintenance Facility 1991

Waste Type Annual Quantity

Oil Filters 1,800 filters

Lead acid batteries 280 batteries

Brakes 1,200 - 1,500 sets

Cracked corn absorbent 30 - 60 gal

Soiled rags 8,515 rags

Paint equipment cleaning solvent 1,118 lb

Waste paint thinner 1,664 lb

Solvent brake cleaner 2,106 lb

Solvent engine parts cleaner 5,746 lb

Used oil (engine, brake fluid, transmission fluid) 2,830 gal

Used antifreeze 300 gal

Radiators 280 radiators
3

solvent-borne paints will significantly reduce emissions of four EPA 33/50 Program target chemicals generated during

painting operations at the VMF. (The 33/

50 Program is EPA’s voluntary pollution

prevention initiative to reduce national releases and off-site transfers of 17 toxic

chemicals by 33% by the end of 1992 and

50% by the end of 1995). The options

identified in the report will also reduce

operating costs by decreasing disposal

costs. By implementing the options described in this report the USPS has the

potential to save over $100,000 on waste

disposal costs/yr, as shown in Tables 4

and 5. Additionally, there are unquantified

benefits such as reduced liability, paper

work, and spills and spill control/disposal

costs. The options identified in this report

are generally applicable to the 350 vehicle maintenance facilities and 270 general mail facilities nationwide.

The full report was submitted in fulfillment of Contract No. 68-C8-0062 by Science Applications International Corporation

under the sponsorship of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Table 4. Estimated Annual Return from Source Reduction and Recycling, USPS General Mail Facility,

Buffalo, NY

Action Potential Monetary Benefit ($)1

Current practices:

 Recycle laser printer cartridges 1,740

 Recycle aluminum cans 1,011

 Recycle scrap metal 2,125

 Recycle loose cardboard2 34,000

Subtotal 38,876

Additional recommended measures:

 Recycle plastic film 5,485

Subtotal 5,485

Recently implemented or proposed:

 Recycle computer paper 240

 Recycle mixed office paper 1,955

 Replace paper hand towels with electric air dryers3 50,000

Subtotal 52,195

Total 96,556

Notes:

1 Monetary benefits include a $85/ton avoided disposal cost and payment for recyclable materials

(aluminum, plastic film, and computer paper). Disposal costs for other locations may differ

significantly. Payment for recyclable materials is based on the September 1992 market in the Buffalo

area. Any use of these numbers must recognize the fact that markets for recyclable materials vary

greatly with time and location. 2 Cardboard recycling began as a result of the preliminary assessment findings. 3 Includes replacing hand towels at Buffalo GMF and Station Branches.

Table 5. Potential Waste Reduction and Cost Savings for Selected Options, USPS Buffalo Vehicle

Maintenance Facility, 1991-1992

Option Annual Waste Reduction Annual Cost Saving Potential

Waterborne paints 2,782 lb of hazardous $3,088 in reduced waste

waste paint/ solvent/thinner disposal

Aqueous parts washer 3,163 lb of hazardous Undetermined

engine and brake

parts cleaning solvent

HVLP paint application 50% less VOC $8,138 in reduced

system emissions and 30% less raw material and

paint solid waste waste disposal

Gun washer station 75% to 90% less $2,978 in reduced

VOC emissions raw materials and

waste disposal
4

Science Applications International Corporation, Falls Church, VA 22043, authored the

report.

John Filippelli (Region II, New York, NY) and Kenneth Stone (see below) are the

EPA Technical Project Monitors.

The complete report, entitled "Pollution Prevention Opportunity Assessment: General

Mail and Vehicle Maintenance Facility, United States Postal Service, Buffalo, NY,"

(Order No. PB94-129798AS; Cost: $27.00, subject to change) will be available

only from:

National Technical Information Service

5285 Port Royal Road

Springfield, VA 22161

Telephone: 703-487-4650

The EPA Project Officer can be contacted at:

Risk Reduction Engineering Laboratory

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Cincinnati, OH 45268

United States

Environmental Protection Agency

Center for Environmental Research Information

Cincinnati, OH 45268

Official Business

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