Don’t trash waste disposal
Cannabis producers and manufacturers have reminded early-on of the importance of waste disposal, with a question specific to the topic on their initial applications. They know that they cannot treat plant waste like common yard waste. Like other priorities for licensed facilities, missing the boat by failing to follow the approved plan and improperly disposing of dry waste materials and waste products from extraction leads to fines, liabilities, or even having a hard-won license lost.
Zach McCullough, from Monarch Waste Co shared some insights about what Missouri’s operators can do to ensure they start off compliant. “Missouri, as a budding industry, has the chance to start off clean and green. The only way for the industry to go in that direction is for patients to be educated enough to expect more sustainable practices. Currently, the cannabis industry creates millions of pounds of waste every year, most of which ends up in landfills.
According to Health Canada, the legal industry produces approximately 8 pounds of waste per pound of cannabis consumed. Missouri regulations allow operators to compost cannabis waste. One of the easiest ways for Missouri operators to put sustainable operations in place is to compost their waste. It’s easier than implementing sustainable packaging or LED lights, or organic certifications.
Cultivation facilities can’t just shred their waste, mix it with a rendering material, and throw it in their backyard. They are required to compost their product at a health department approved facility. If a cultivation facility has already provided DHSS with their SOPs and security plans, they will have to update this information to reflect a change in their waste disposal process. Operators looking to go green with their waste disposal should look for a disposal provider that can assist them in updating their SOPs/security plans.”
While disposal rules vary from state to state, operators learning to deal with cannabis waste appropriately is crucial to the success of an operation. There are several strict controls in place for dealing with any kind of hazardous waste, which isn’t legally compliant if it were just to be sent to a landfill or composting facility.
In the US, the EPA and state governments provide guidelines for disposing of hazardous waste properly, and other countries have federal and local requirements as well. The EPA, like other environmental bodies, differentiates between two types of waste: solid and liquid.
Solid waste disposal: The definition of the guideline for identifying solid waste is that it’s “unrecognizable and unusable.” This means no one should be able to discern by looking that the waste is cannabis. Many cannabis operations have a facility on-site for grinding down the waste into smaller bits. If the waste is non-hazardous, it is mixed with other non-cannabis organics such as garden trimmings and then composted or sent to the appropriate landfill. If it’s hazardous, it’s mixed with cat litter, sand, plastic or sawdust and sent to the appropriate landfill.
Liquid waste disposal: Liquid waste is a bit more complicated to dispose of legally. It must be disposed of properly or sent to a hazardous waste treatment facility. Cannabis operations must partner with a shipping company to dispose of the hazardous waste appropriately unless they transport it themselves.
Missouri’s Amendment 2 includes very specific rules around waste disposal for cultivation and manufacturing operators. The following text was pulled directly from the DHSS website and details the regulations as they stand today:
“Any excess or unusable medical marijuana or medical marijuana byproduct of a cultivation, manufacturing, dispensary, testing, or transportation facility shall be disposed of in the following manner, as applicable:
1. Solid and liquid wastes generated during medical marijuana production and processing must be stored, managed, and disposed of in accordance with applicable state, tribal, local, and municipal laws and regulations. Facilities must keep records of the final disposal destinations of all such wastes for at least five (5) years;
2. Wastewater generated during medical marijuana production and processing must be disposed of in compliance with applicable state, tribal, local, and municipal laws and regulations;
3. Wastes from the production and processing of medical marijuana plants must be evaluated against state hazardous waste regulations to determine if those wastes qualify as hazardous waste. It is the responsibility of each waste generator to properly evaluate their waste to determine if it is a hazardous waste per 40 CFR 262.11. If a generator’s waste does qualify as a hazardous waste, then that waste is subject to the applicable hazardous waste management standards.
A. All solid waste, as defined by 40 CFR 261.2, must be evaluated under the hazardous waste regulations, including: (I) Waste from medical marijuana flowers, trim, and solid plant material used to create an extract; (II) Waste solvents, pesticides, and other similar materials used in the cultivation, manufacturing, or testing process; (III) Discarded plant waste, spent solvents, and laboratory wastes from any medical marijuana processing or quality assurance testing; and (IV) Medical marijuana extract that fails to meet quality testing.
B. Medical marijuana flowers, trim, and solid plant material are not in themselves considered hazardous waste unless they have been treated or contaminated with a hazardous waste constituent;
4. Medical marijuana waste that does not qualify as hazardous waste per 40 CFR 262.11 must be rendered unusable prior to leaving a facility, including plant waste, such as roots, stalks, leaves, and stems;
5. Medical marijuana plant waste that does not qualify as hazardous may be rendered unusable by grinding and incorporating the medical marijuana plant waste with other nonhazardous ground materials so the resulting mixture is at least fifty percent (50%) nonmarijuana waste by volume. Material used to grind with the medical marijuana may be either compostable waste or non compostable waste. Other methods to render medical marijuana waste unusable must be approved by the department before implementation.
A. Compostable mixed waste: Medical marijuana waste to be disposed as compost feedstock or in another organic waste method (for example, anaerobic digester) may be mixed with the following types of waste materials: (I) Food waste; (II) Yard waste; or (III) Vegetable based grease or oils.
B. Non Compostable mixed waste: Medical marijuana waste to be disposed in a landfill or another disposal method (for example, incinerator) may be mixed with the following types of waste materials: (I) Paper waste; (II) Cardboard waste; (III) Plastic waste; or (IV) Soil;
6. Medical marijuana waste that has been rendered unusable may be delivered to a permitted solid waste facility for final disposition. Examples of acceptable permitted solid waste facilities include:
A. For compostable mixed waste: Compost, anaerobic digester, or other facility with approval of the local health department; and B. For non compostable mixed waste: Landfill, incinerator, or other facility with approval of the local health department; or
7. All facility waste of any type must be stored securely before final disposition, which can be done within the facility in areas designated for disposal activities or, if necessary, outside the facility in a locked, tamper resistant receptacle.
Waste disposal policies, like all regulations, should be reviewed regularly as state and municipal regulations can and do change quickly. Smart operators would be wise to review your environmental insurance policy to ensure your business is covered for any accidental releases, and establishing a solid relationship with reputable waste companies is a must.
This article appeared in the September/October 2020 issue of Greenway Magazine.