Wastes and Toxics

ERG provides a full suite of services to help clients design, implement, and assess strategies and programs to prevent, reduce, and manage wastes and toxic releases. Our engineers, scientists, and life cycle analysts characterize solid and hazardous wastes, conduct solid waste audits, and evaluate industrial processes and products to identify toxic releases and associated human and environmental exposures. In parallel, they also help clients understand options for reducing waste streams. They assess alternative manufacturing processes to identify green engineering, green chemistry, and treatment technology options, and evaluate recycling and end-of-life management strategies. Complementing this work, ERG program development and outreach specialists support government agencies in designing, implementing, and managing voluntary green purchasing, recycling, and waste reduction programs. For clients interested in understanding the value of regulatory or voluntary efforts, ERG economists evaluate the cost-benefit of waste or toxics management, reduction, and prevention programs.

Hazardous Waste

Hazardous waste characterization
Evaluation of hazardous waste treatment technologies
Pollution prevention assessments and feasibility studies
Identification of emerging hazardous waste issues and trends
Risk-based targeting at the sector and facility level
Hazardous waste regulatory development and analysis
Waste management guidance and training
Hazardous waste program evaluation

Solid Waste

Solid waste characterization and waste flow assessments
Life cycle analyses
End-of-life management evaluations
Solid waste audits
Recycling program design and implementation
Outreach, promotion, and education
Data analysis, performance metrics, and tracking

Toxic Substances

Industrial process analysis
Identification of chemical releases and occupational exposures
Chemical release modeling
Exposure assessments and modeling
Fate and transport assessments and modeling
Screening-level risk assessments
Risk and hazard ranking tool development
Green engineering, green chemistry, and Design for the Environment (DfE) analyses
Economic assessment of supply chains associated with chemical manufacturing, processing, and use
Market data collection and analysis

Projects

Helping Border Communities Manage Scrap Vehicles

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Large Navy battleship sitting dockside in water below a blue sky

Realigning Operations, Protecting Military Capability

U.S. Department of Defense

MSW Characterization

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Worker wearing a gas mask and visor inspects machinery in an industrial setting

Assessing Chemicals of Potential Concern Under TSCA

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Three cylindrical power transformers suspended atop a utility pole

Economic Analysis to Support Final PCB Phase-Out

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Service Area Leads

As an immigrant, issues of race, equity, and inclusion have always been central to my lived experience and values. As an environmental engineer and policy analyst, I feel grateful to align my convictions with my experience and to lead ERG’s environmental and climate justice solutions practice.

Shanika Amarakoon

I enjoy bringing a practical, engineering approach to solving the complex environmental problems facing our country, from air toxics emissions to hazardous waste issues to industrial and municipal wastewater contamination.

Paul Buellesbach

When I tell people I’ve worked at the same company for almost three decades, they are often astonished: Who would want to do the same thing for so long? What they don’t realize is that it’s never the same. I consider myself fortunate that, throughout my career at ERG, the work I do has always been interesting, challenging, and changing with the times.

Jeff Cantin

I always appreciate when our government clients ask us to help them quantify the benefits and costs of actions they are considering. The more complex assignments, such as accurately characterizing behavioral changes under multiple compliance scenarios, put a premium on our creativity and experience.

Susan Day

Sustainability has been a central theme throughout my career. As an engineer, I particularly enjoy crafting approaches and tools to efficiently reduce chemical and energy inputs, guided by lessons learned from sustainability initiatives worldwide.

Cheryl Keenan

Each year, Americans generate millions of tons of waste and consume increasing amounts of resources. Educating and helping the public and organizations learn how they can reduce, reuse, and recycle has been a major focus of my career. I take great satisfaction in applying my extensive waste reduction knowledge to help my clients design and implement strategies to reduce the impact that waste has on the U.S. environment.

Dena Krichinsky

Bringing regulators and the regulated community together, educating them on each other’s concerns, and helping to find environmentally preferable and economically feasible solutions is one of the most enjoyable parts of my work.

Kurt Rindfusz

As the world economy and population growth continue to strain natural resources, work toward sustainable materials management through source reduction, reuse, and recovery becomes increasingly critical. Conscious of these growing pressures, I am deeply motivated to support my clients in identifying and promoting effective ways to manage resources more efficiently.

Shelly Schneider