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Special Waste
Handling Guidelines for Owners and Operators of Solid Waste Disposal Facilities
Know the Rules
If you accept any type of special waste at your disposal facility, you and your staff need to know the laws that apply to handling and storing special wastes. As the owner or operator of the facility, you are legally responsible for complying with the Special Waste Regulations. Since you are also responsible for disposal costs, it pays to know the rules.
The Yukon Special Waste Regulations were developed to help protect human health and the environment by ensuring special wastes are handled safely from origin to disposal.
Special Wastes
Special wastes are dangerous goods that are no longer used for their original purpose as defined in the federal Transportation of Dangerous Goods Act and Regulations. Common special wastes include:
- used motor oil;
- used automotive batteries;
- used petroleum distillates (petroleum oil, varsol, transformer oil, cleaning solvents, petroleum gases);
- used solvents/cleaners;
- used antifreeze;
- used paint and paint related material;
- used dry-cleaning chemicals;
- used photo-processing chemicals; and
- biomedical wastes.
If you are uncertain whether or not a material is a special waste, consult the federal Transportation of Dangerous Goods Act and Regulations, or contact the Yukon Environmental Programs Branch.
Release of Special Waste Prohibited
The cornerstone of the Special Waste Regulations is its prohibition of the unauthorized release of special waste into the environment. This prohibition is supported by a management system that provides rules and guidelines for generating, handling, storing and disposing of special wastes. The following sections outline those rules.
Special Waste Permits
- Anyone who generates, stores, handles, mixes, transports, disposes, incinerates, or releases special waste requires a permit from the Yukon Environmental Programs Branch.
- If you own or operate a solid waste disposal facility, and you accept special wastes, special waste permit conditions will be incorporated into your solid waste permit.
- If you are applying for a solid waste permit, and you intend to collect special wastes as well, you should submit a special waste management plan along with your application for a solid waste permit.
- If you decide to accept special wastes at your disposal facility after your solid waste permit has already been finalized, you must apply for an amendment to your permit.
- An Environmental Protection Officer may inspect any site to which a solid or special waste permit applies.
Handling Special Wastes
- Please put up clear signs at your facility indicating which wastes you accept and which wastes you do not accept.
- Never mix or dilute special wastes to produce a substance that is not a special waste.
- Disposal costs for special wastes increase when different wastes are mixed together and become contaminated.
- Waste oil may only be incinerated in an appliance certified by the Canadian Standards Association (CSA), Underwriters Laboratory Inc., USA (UL), or Underwriters Laboratory, Canada (ULC), or as otherwise approved by the Yukon Protective Services Branch for the incineration of waste oil.
Storing Special Wastes
- Mark special waste storage containers and secure the area to prevent unauthorized persons from gaining access.
- Inspect special waste storage containers regularly, on the schedule laid out in your permit.
- Store incompatible substances separately to prevent contamination, fires, explosions, gaseous emissions, leaching or other discharge.
- Ensure special wastes are protected from the weather, and the ground is protected from spills by an impervious layer.
- If you plan to store large volumes of special waste in storage tanks, consult the Storage Tank Regulations to ensure you are in compliance. You many need to obtain a storage tank permit.
Spills
- Report all spills immediately to the 24-hour spill line at (867) 667-7244.
Obtaining Copies of Statutes, Regulations and Fact Sheets
Fact sheets on the following subjects related to special wastes are available from the Environmental Programs Branch:
- Disposing of Special Waste
- Options for Storing Special Waste
- Spills Regulations
- Storage Tank Regulations
- Special Waste Regulations
- Used Oil
- Used Batteries
- Used Antifreeze
- Used Solvents
- Photochemical Waste
See the footnote below for instructions on how to view or obtain copies of any Yukon government acts or regulations, including the Environment Act, Special Waste Regulations, Solid Waste Regulations and the Yukon Dangerous Goods Transportation Act.
You can check the Federal Transportation of Dangerous Goods Act and Regulations .