FHRPineBend.com - Emissions: Waste Management

Learn about Flint Hills Resources' pollution prevention efforts and how you too can make a difference.

Source Data information for waste emissions and waste transfers.

This file is in Microsoft Excel Comma Separated Values format.

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Over the last five years, FHR has reduced waste emissions by approximately 2100 tons, from 4600 tons in 1997 to 2500 tons in 2004. The types of waste generated by the refinery include industrial, hazardous and solid waste. The refinery has looked for ways to beneficially reuse waste instead of sending it to a landfill.

From 2002 to 2004, the percent of total waste going to beneficial reuse rose from 20 percent to 43 percent. Examples of recycling and beneficial reuse of solid waste include:

Using spent FCC catalyst fines in concrete
Waste asphalt used for paving
Spent Poly Unit catalyst to fertilizer feedstock
Drier dessicant, activated alumina, and catalyst support to paving aggregate feedstock
Containerized solid asphalt and clarified oil used in fuels blending
Used gasoil filter rock for paving
Municipal waste sent to energy recovery facility
Paper recycling

FHR generates solid wastes from four different processes:

Water and wastewater treatment
Refinery Maintenance (including spent catalyst)
Refinery Improvements (including tank and stormwater pond upgrades, sewer upgrades, and other equipment upgrades)
Office waste (paper, cardboard, food wastes and other "municipal" garbage)

The pie chart entitled "2004 Waste Emissions" shows that the vast majority (70%) of waste disposed is industrial waste. Much industrial waste is clean up of soil contaminated by leaks and spills, construction and demolition activity, and routine maintenance activities.

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FHR has reduced waste emissions over the last five years. Improved waste segregation allowed the refinery to increase the amount of waste that went to beneficial reuse options. As noted above, between 2002 and 2004 the percent of total waste going to beneficial uses rose from 20 to 43 percent. Flint Hills will continue to look for cost effective beneficial reuse opportunities for its waste.

Reductions in waste emissions have been made both through process changes and finding alternative uses for materials that had been disposed in the past. We hope to see FHR maintain their reduced waste disposal rates in the future. It is also important that decreases in air or water emissions are not just transferred to its waste stream emissions. We encourage FHR to continue to report total emissions from refinery operations.