Development of a waste minimization program at Sterling Chemicals in Texas City, Texas

Abstract

Long Range Plan. Sterling needed an overall waste management program that would focus on waste reduction, recycling, and recovery to respond to regulatory requirements and to reduce the costs associated with managing wastes generated at its Texas City petrochemical plant.The Texas'City plant is the only site owned and operated by Sterling. Located on a 250-acre site bordering Galveston Bay, approximately 45 miles southeast of Houston, the facility employs about 950 people and produces acrylonitrile, styrene, ethylbenzene, acetic acid, plastizers, tertiary butyl amine, sodium cyanide, and lactic acid. To support the manufacturing operations, the site has utility boilers, raw water treatment, wastewater treatment, laboratories and maintenance functions. Up till now, Sterling has managed its wastes using both on-site and off-site treatment and disposal methods.manufacturing and service groups and that would address the air, waste, and solid (multi-media) waste categories. Sterling first assembled an in-house team to begin developing the methodologies for waste minimization. At different times in the process, members of the team represented manufacturing, technical services, engineering, accounting, environmental &airs, and quality facilitation. The Environmental Mairs Department, having direct responsibility for meeting federal and state permitting and reporting requirements, developed the agenda and plan to implement the waste minimization program. The initial outline of the agenda covered project identification, ranking, approval, execution, feasibility, tracking, and reporting.Sterling's goal was to develop a waste minimization program that would apply to all plant