Chemical Manufacturing Waste Management Trend
The following graph shows the annual quantities of TRI chemical waste managed through recycling, energy recovery, treatment, and disposal or other releases by the chemical manufacturing sector. For more details on quantities released, toggle to the “Releases only” graph.
Note: For comparability, trend graphs include only those chemicals that were reportable to TRI for all years presented.
From 2007 to 2019:
- Quantities of production-related waste managed by the chemical manufacturing sector increased by 65%, while production volume (represented by the black line as reported by the Federal Reserve Board, Industrial Production Index Exit) decreased by 14%. In recent years, production has been fairly constant, with an increase from 2017 to 2018.
- The large increase in chemical waste recycled starting in 2014 compared to previous years was primarily due to increased quantities of recycling reported by chemical manufacturers, with an increase in the quantity of cumene recycled by one facility and dichloromethane (methylene chloride) recycled by two other facilities.
- Quantities of TRI chemicals treated or combusted for energy recovery decreased, while the quantities of TRI chemicals recycled increased. There was very little change in the quantities of TRI chemicals released.
From 2018 to 2019:
- Production-related waste managed at chemical manufacturing facilities decreased by 501 million pounds (-3%), driven by a reduction in quantities recycled by three facilities in the sector.
- In 2019, 3% of this sector’s waste was released into the environment, while the rest was managed through treatment, energy recovery, and recycling.
The following graph shows the annual quantities of TRI chemicals released by the chemical manufacturing industry.
Note: For comparability, trend graphs include only those chemicals that were reportable to TRI for all years presented.
From 2007 to 2019:
- TRI chemical releases by the chemical manufacturing sector increased by 2%.
- The proportions of on-site land releases and off-site disposal increased during this time, while air releases now make up a smaller fraction of total releases.
From 2018 to 2019:
- Releases decreased by 39 million pounds (-7%). This trend is driven by large decreases in land disposal for numerous facilities.
- For 2019, the chemical manufacturing sector reported larger air release quantities than any other sector, accounting for 28% of all reported quantities of TRI chemicals emitted to air.
- For 2019, the basic chemicals manufacturing subsector accounted for 51% of chemical manufacturing releases. This subsector includes facilities manufacturing products such as organic and inorganic chemicals, industrial gases, and petrochemicals.
Source Reduction in the Chemical Manufacturing Sector:
Although the chemical manufacturing sector has consistently managed the most production-related waste of any TRI-covered sector, 284 facilities (8% of facilities) in this sector initiated source reduction activities in 2019 to reduce their TRI chemical use and waste generation. The most commonly reported types of source reduction activities were good operating practices and process modifications. For example:
- A paint and coatings manufacturing facility reduced xylene waste by scheduling batches to minimize waste produced during cleanouts between batches. [Click to view facility details in the TRI P2 Search Tool]
- An organic chemical manufacturing facility reduced its use of diphenylamine by changing the reaction formulation to increase batch yield and minimize the amount of unreacted material produced as waste. [Click to view facility details in the TRI P2 Search Tool]
Additional Resources
- EPA's Smart Sectors Program is partnering with chemical manufacturing trade associations to develop sensible approaches to industrial operations that better protect the environment and public health.
- TRI’s P2 Industry Profile Dashboard can help you learn more about releases, other waste management trends, and pollution prevention opportunities in this sector.
- For more information on how this and other industry sectors can choose safer chemicals, visit EPA’s Safer Choice Program pages for Alternatives Assessments and the Safer Choice Ingredients List.
This page was published in January 2021 and uses the 2019 TRI National Analysis dataset made public in TRI Explorer in October 2020.