Alexandria, VA / Arlington, VA -- The Textile Rental Services Association (TRSA) and the Uniform and Textile Service Association (UTSA) today praised the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for deciding to exclude properly handled reusable shop towels from solid waste regulation. In a proposed rule published in the Federal Register November 20, 2003, EPA essentially codifies the associations’ long-held management practices governing how textile supply and service companies and their customers handle industrial shop towels soiled with solvents and sent for laundering.

“EPA’s decision not to regulate reusable shop towels as a solid waste will encourage reuse, recycling and resource conservation, concepts on which the textile supply and service industry was founded,” said UTSA President and CEO David F. Hobson. “We believe the proposal protects the environment without over-regulating the textile service industry or its customers," said Textile Rental Services Association (TRSA) President/CEO Richard Ekfelt.

To maintain a solid waste exclusion, the proposal requires that reusable shop towels contaminated with solvents contain no free liquids and be kept in containers that minimize loss of solvent to the environment at the customer’s place of business, during transport and at the laundry facility prior to processing. Textile supply and service companies and their customers have voluntarily operated in this manner for years.

Prior to the federal proposal, which will not become final for approximately one year, states regulated reusable shop towels individually. While most states have never considered reusables as waste, the new federal rule would provide laundries and their customers with a consistent regulatory framework that protects the environment and conserves resources while streamlining compliance. Text of the rule can be found at http://www.epa.gov/epaoswer/hazwaste/id/solvents/wipes.htm.