Letter 20095

Electroless Nickel Disposal [Illinois] 

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I am trying to dispose of Electroless nickel. The mixture is 60% deionized water, 15% Everon NPA-7109 BP make up and 20 % Everon NPA 7109 BP replenisher. Can I dispose of this myself or do I need to have a hazardous waste company dispose of it.

Ken Barrows
- Aurora, IL, USA

There might possibly, vaguely, chance-in-a-thousand, be a way by which you could escape hazardous waste laws with this, but I very strongly doubt it. You need to have it manifested and handled by a licensed disposal facility. Often, the best way is to return it to the supplier if they have a recycling program set up.

 
Ted Mooney, P.E.
finishing.com Inc. - Brick, NJ

To answer your question, Electroless nickel is a non hazardous material. However, it is always better to recycle/reuse than to dispose of any substance. Nickel is definitely a recyclable substance.

Cynthia Smith
- Pottsville, PA

While electroless nickel is non hazardous, electroless nickel solution is absolutely, positively, a regulated metal. You can not sewer it and you can not dump it on the ground. The chelators in it will cause problems in your conventional wastewater system also.

James Watts
- FL

Yes, electroless nickel is recyleable, Cynthia, and some vendors will take it back. But I have to disagree with you about it being non-hazardous because it is my understanding that all waste from a plating shop is categorically hazardous waste; i.e., because it is plating waste, it is hazardous by statute regardless of what is in it.

 
Ted Mooney, P.E.
finishing.com Inc. - Brick, NJ

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