Beneficial Reuse Provides Sustainable Solutions

THE CHALLENGE

At EMD Millipore’s Bedford, Massachusetts facility, methanol is used in the process of developing membranes. Although there is a distillation column on-site so that the methanol can be reclaimed and reused, the process still generates excess methanol. Veolia had been transporting it to New Jersey for fuel blending until the two companies discussed ideas to develop a way to sustainably reuse the methanol.

“The methanol is refined and reclaimed on-site at the EMD Millipore facility, so it’s very clean,” notes Steve Garcia, branch sales manager for Veolia Environmental Services. “The idea for channeling EMD Millipore’s excess methanol into wastewater treatment originated at a seminar EMD Millipore attended where the EPA was talking about denitrification, using methanol to remove nitrogen from wastewater. When there’s too much nitrogen in wastewater it creates algae blooms and adversely affects the environment. Denitrification was the beneficial reuse application that EMD Millipore preferred to pursue."

“It was a two year process of testing the EMD Millipore methanol alongside virgin methanol and its effect on the treatment process on the microorganisms," explains Garcia. "We certified the material at a wastewater treatment facility in Danbury, Connecticut, which was identified as a potential user by Veolia Water, one of our sister companies. The facility had been purchasing virgin methanol exclusively. We were able to obtain approval for using the recycled methanol with all the governmental agencies—the town of Danbury and the local and state agencies. From an environmental standpoint this was very exciting: Danbury was actually able to save money because it now had the ability to buy recycled methanol rather than virgin methanol.”

THE RESULTS

• Sustainability has increased across the board, while costs for all parties have decreased.

• EMD Millipore will save $225,000 per year.

• The City of Danbury saves 15-33% on the cost of methanol.

• Removed waste from RCRA Hazardous waste classification.