Date: June 17, 2015

To: Rachel Schmeltz, EPA

From: Jeff Coburn and Kate Bronstein, RTI International

Subject: Review of Site-Specific Industrial Waste Degradable Organic Content Data

1. Purpose 

Review available waste composition data for the industrial wastes to determine if the default values for 

degradable organic carbon (DOC) fraction for industrial wastes in Table TT-1 of 40 CFR Part 98 Subpart 

TT (Industrial Solid Waste Landfills) should be revised. 

2. Background 

During the development of subpart TT, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) received 

several comments regarding the need to provide more default DOC values for specific industrial waste 

streams, particularly from the pulp and paper industry. Additionally, in 2013, EPA received comments 

from the American Forest and Paper Association and the American Wood Council, with input from the 

National Council for Air and Stream Improvement, stating that the current DOC values in Table TT-1 

overstate substantially the GHG emissions from landfills at pulp and paper mills (see Docket ID# EPAHQ-OAR-2012-0934-0058). One suggested resolution was for the EPA to create separate categories of 

wastes that would include largely inorganic waste streams and assign a lower DOC value in Table TT-1. 

At that time, EPA determined there was not sufficient data to develop additional waste specific DOC 

values. Instead, methods were provided in the rule to allow reporters to develop site-specific DOC values 

for wastes that may not be well-characterized by the default values provided in Table TT-1. The DOC 

values used in the calculations for subpart TT were deferred until March 31, 2013. As of the 2013 

reporting year (reports submitted by March 31, 2014), DOC values are required to be provided, allowing 

for analysis of the data provided by facilities that use waste type-specific DOC values to determine if the 

data are adequate for developing additional waste-stream specific DOC default values for inclusion in 

Table TT-1. 

3. Approach 

We reviewed the site-specific DOC values reported under subpart TT for the 2013 reporting year to 

determine if adequate data were available to develop additional waste specific industry default DOC 

values for inclusion in Table TT-1. We first queried the subpart TT data for records that reported using a 

site-specific DOC value. For a given facility, we sorted the data by waste stream name and disposal year 

to identify the most recent disposal year for that waste stream name. Nearly all facilities disposed of waste 

streams with a site-specific DOC value as recently as 2013, but a few waste streams were last disposed of 
Review of Site-Specific Industrial Waste Degradable Organic Carbon Data June 2015 

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in previous years. All duplicate records for the waste stream were eliminated from the analysis (i.e., 

duplicate DOC records for wastes disposed of in earlier years were not considered in the analysis) to 

obtain one site-specific DOC value per waste stream disposed of at each facility. 

For most industries, we did not have enough data from site-specific DOC estimates to establish new or 

revise default DOC values for inclusion in Table TT-1. However, we had site-specific DOC data for over 

100 waste streams at pulp and paper manufacturing facilities. We note that the pulp and paper industry 

accounts for approximately 55 percent of the subpart TT reporters and accounts for 62 percent of the 

emissions reported during the 2013 reporting year. We then performed an additional analysis of the pulp 

and paper waste-specific DOC values to categorize the waste streams and assign a DOC value for each 

type of waste stream. 

Four main pulp and paper waste categories for which reporters commonly developed site-specific DOC 

values were identified, including the following: 

• boiler ash

• kraft recovery wastes (which included causticizing, slaker grits, lime mud, and green 

liquor dregs)

• wastewater treatment sludges, and

• other (which included hydropulper rejects, bark wastes, and digester knots). 

We then assigned each of the waste streams reported in 2013 by a facility in the pulp and paper 

manufacturing sector to one of these four categories. 

4. Results 

Tables 1 through 4 provide a listing of the waste specific DOC values along with the waste quantity in 

the most recent disposal year for that waste stream for the four general waste categories identified. The 

average site-specific DOC values and the weighted average DOC values are very similar for all four of 

the waste streams. Boiler ash and kraft recovery area wastes had very low DOC values, but they were not 

low enough to be considered “inerts” (see Tables 1 and 2, respectively). We also note that, based on the 

site-specific DOC values in Table 3, wastewater treatment sludges for the pulp and paper industry appear 

to have, on average, a slightly higher DOC value than the default of value of 0.09 for “industrial sludge” 

currently in Table TT-1 of subpart TT. We found that the general pulp and paper waste (other than 

industrial sludge) default DOC value in Table TT-1 (0.20) was reasonable for the “other” waste category 

(see Table 4). 

Considering the data in Tables 1 through 4, the following waste-stream specific DOC values are 

recommended for the pulp and paper industry: 

• Pulp and paper boiler ash: DOC = 0.060; 

• Kraft recovery area wastes: DOC = 0.025; 

• Pulp and paper wastewater sludge: DOC = 0.12; 

• Other pulp and paper waste (not listed above): DOC = 0.20. 
Review of Site-Specific Industrial Waste Degradable Organic Carbon Data June 2015 

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Table 1. Site-specific DOC values for P&P Boiler Ash as reported under Subpart TT for the 2013 

reporting year. 

Waste Description Quantity of 

Waste (tons) 

DOC 

(mass fraction, 

wet basis) 

No. 1 Landfill Ash Pond 12921 0.0616

No. 1 Landfill PB3 Ash 9561 0.0103

No. 2 Landfill PB3 Ash 28855 0.0103

Ash 11078 0.05

Bottom Ash 0.381 0.03

Fly Ash 3825 0.06

Ash 27778 0.05

Bunker 6 12129 0.07

Mill Landfill - Boiler Ash 31987 0.09

Landfill Earthen Material and Ash Cover 511 0.070315

Orange Mill Landfill - Boiler Ash 33982 0.09

Mill Landfill - Bottom Ash 5169 0.004

Mill Landfill - Fly Ash 2 0.15

Ash 44997 0.06015

Dry Boiler Ash 23327 0.0352

Ash 16295 0.074173

Power Boiler Rock 6137 0.002997

Boiler Flyash 26316 0.102

Coal Bottom Ash 628 0.0507

Wood Bottom Ash 2335 0.00716

IP Texarkana Mill Sludge/Ash/Inorganic 43952 0.00509

Dry Ash 6033 0.09

Wet Ash 2343 0.03

Ash 1905 0.202

Combined Boiler Ash 0 0.111

No1 Power Boiler Ash 20895 0.1046

No2 Power Boiler Ash 21767 0.1346

Cinders 5507 0.03

Fly Ash 53184 0.05

Ash 14488 0.023

Bottom Ash 4256 0.002

Average DOC Value 0.060

Weighted Average DOC Value 0.058
Review of Site-Specific Industrial Waste Degradable Organic Carbon Data June 2015 

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Table 2. Site-specific DOC values for P&P Kraft Recovery Area Waste as reported under Subpart 

TT for the 2013 reporting year. 

Waste Description 

Quantity of Waste 

(tons) 

DOC

(mass fraction, wet 

basis) 

Caustic Grit 849 0.0051

Lime & Lime Mud 10595 0.0107

No. 1 Landfill #3 Dregs 3670 0.0515

No. 1 Landfill BMP Pond 1363 0.0323

No. 1 Landfill Lime Mud 640 0.0086

No. 2 Landfill Lime Mud 0 0.0086

Lime Mud 6354 0.01

Landfill #4 (Lime) 11473 0.0076

Recaust Dregs 8271 0.06

Recaust Grit 914 0.05

Recaust Lime Mud 975 0.004

Bunker 1 6531 0.01

Bunker 2 7365 0.01

Bunker 3 10300 0.02

Mill Landfill - Green Liquor Dregs 22863 0.04

Mill Landfill - Slaker Grits 9408 0.003

Orange Mill Landfill - G. Liquor Dregs 5791 0.05

Orange Mill Landfill - Lime Mud 282 0.02

Orange Mill Landfill - Slaker Grits 3363 0.04

Mill Landfill - Green Liquor Dregs 13990 0.04

Mill Landfill - Slaker Grits 841 0

Dregs 32547.1 0.0242

Grits 2172.7 0.00332

GL Dregs 7108 0.032

Lime Mud 5856 0.0044

Slaker Grit 2576 0.0121

Green Liquor Dregs 14794 0.026624

Lime Mud 0 0.004437

Slaker Grits 1514 0.002373

Green Liquor Dregs 18132 0.0247

Lime Mud 7092 0.0044

Slaker Grits 307 0.00506

Causticizing Area Waste 7950 0.13

Dregs 1988 0.08

Lime Mud 7950 0.12

Slaker Grits 1988 0.14

Lime Mud 10237 0.007

Lime Mud 122710 0.01

Dregs 6513 0.035

Grits 1336 0.002

Lime Mud 7805 0.003

Caustic (Grits and Dregs) 45102 0.027

Lime Mud 2454 0.005
Review of Site-Specific Industrial Waste Degradable Organic Carbon Data June 2015 

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Waste Description 

Quantity of Waste 

(tons) 

DOC

(mass fraction, wet 

basis) 

Average DOC Value 0.028

Weighted Average DOC Value 0.024

Table 3. Site-specific DOC values for P&P Wastewater Treatment Sludges as reported under 

Subpart TT for the 2013 reporting year. 

Waste Description 

Quantity of Waste 

(tons) 

DOC

(mass fraction, wet 

basis) 

No. 1 Landfill Filter Cake 16293 0.1173

No. 2 Landfill Filter Cake 101637 0.1173

Sludge 146031 0.13

Landfill #2 (Sludge) 3638 0.18

Primary Sludge 21368 0.1

Secondary Sludge 26543 0.08

Mill Landfill - #3 Recycle Plant Sludge 39679 0.2

Mill Landfill - Surge Basin Sludge 26167 0.05

Orange Mill Landfill - Industrial Sludge 26277 0.21

Orange Mill Landfill - Strong Waste Sludge 7508 0.05

Sludge 64339.4 0.18348

Sludge 262 0.144

Sludge 27230 0.103564

Primary Clarifier Sludge 51811 0.102

Effluent Sludge 1226 0.09

Primary Sludge 8711 0.206

Secondary Sludge 12016 0.027

Combined Sludge 0 0.1245

High Ash Sludge 10942 0.0979

Low Ash Sludge 14653 0.1488

WWTP Sludge 113464 0.09

WWTP Sludge 61357 0.075

Average DOC Value 0.12

Weighted Average DOC Value 0.12
Review of Site-Specific Industrial Waste Degradable Organic Carbon Data June 2015 

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Table 4. Site-specific DOC values for Other P&P Waste Streams as reported under Subpart TT for 

the 2013 reporting year. 

Waste Description 

Quantity of Waste 

(tons) 

DOC

(mass fraction, wet 

basis) 

Hydropulper Rejects 9143 0.2277

Wood Yard Grit 18926 0.2039

Bark 8019 0.29

Landfill #1 (Pulp and Paper Wash) 29849 0.2

Woodyard Flume Grit 17926 0.15

Mill Landfill - #3 Recycle Plant Rejects 43008 0.16

Mill Landfill - Wood and Wood Products 5861 0.24

Bark Cover 3827 0.2342

OCC Waste 510 0.2359

Pulp and Paper Waste 255 0.2

Knots 2501 0.225245

Pulp & Paper 7581 0.2

Pulp and Paper 1844 0.2

Digester Knots and Final Rejects 2013 0.1905

Woodwaste 4071 0.19

Ragger Tails 2683 0.08

No. 2 Landfill PAD 1892 0.0926

Average DOC Value 0.20

Weighted Average DOC Value 0.19