PCB Destruction

Polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCB contaminated waste materials, are the most stringently regulated wastes in Canada.

PCB is the acronym used for polychlorinated biphenyl. PCB is a man-made chemical that has been used for many years, and for a variety of purposes. For several decades PCBs were widely used as ingredients in many industrial products such as caulking and sealing compounds, cutting oils, inks, paint additives, coolants and lubricants, though its primary use was as an insulating fluid in transformers. PCBs are a problem today for two reasons:

  • When burned at low temperatures, PCBs create high level dioxins and furans which are highly carcinogenic compounds.
  • PCBs are very stable and do not break down in the environment, causiing them to bio-accumulate and emit molecules that end up in our soil and water. These then get eaten by insects, birds, fish etc., and work their way up the food chain. Humans and many species of fish and animals around the world now have varying levels of PCBs trapped in their fatty tissue.

Environment Canada developed polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) regulations in 1977. Provinces then developed their own regulations to control the disposal of end of life equipment and materials containing PCBs. The limit of 50 ppm PCB contamination was established as a PCB waste. Recent federal regulations prohibit the use of insulating oil containing greater than 2ppm PCB, as should a release of liquids containing greater than 2ppm PCB occur, the clean-up must be treated as if it were greater than 50ppm and classified as PCB waste.

Our organization is the hazardous waste management industry leader specializing in the safe collection, transportation, storage, treatment and destruction of PCBs. Our experienced professionals offer peace of mind to commercial, industrial and institutional organizations by providing top-quality PCB destruction services. Due to governmental regulations that demand strict care and control of highly-regulated PCBs, we offer the most comprehensive PCB destruction program that is in regulatory compliance with current municipal, provincial and federal requirements:

  • PCB hazardous waste audit, sampling, testing and weighing
  • Draining, packaging, labeling and transportation of PCB contaminated wastes (in compliance with the Canadian Transportation of Dangerous Goods Act)
  • Proprietary PCB destruction process to decontaminate PCB contaminated materials
  • In-house laboratory testing of PCB destroyed materials to ensure regulatory compliance with municipal, provincial and federal requirements
  • Certificate of PCB destruction and customer indemnification (within 60 days of PCB destruction project)
  • Decommissioning and deregistering PCB storage sites

Our objective is to destroy PCB contaminated material permanently and safely, using one of three unique processes (dependant on material):

Incineration

We own an incinerator that operates at over 1500 degrees Celsius which, after several levels of air scrubbing, rapid quenching, and residence time, guarantees complete thermal destruction of PCB contaminated material (99.9999%).

Vapour degreasing

Our company owns and operates the largest vapour degreaser in Canada, which renders PCB contaminated materials free of contamination. Once free of PCB contamination the substrate is certified clean and suitable for recycling.

Dechlorination

We own and operate the largest volume dechlorination plant in Canada. Low level insulating oil (up to 500ppm PCB) is dechlorinated through a chemical reaction. The oil is then filtered, polished and sold as like new.

We are permitted to safely transport PCB waste materials anywhere in Canada. We have a number of permitted facilities located in Ontario and Alberta which are licensed to receive PCB Waste materials. We provide PCB destruction services for the following PCB contaminated materials:

  • PCB debris
  • PCB soils
  • PCB caulking
  • PCB capacitors
  • PCB ballasts
  • PCB electrical transformers and equipment
  • PCB transformer oil / askarel fluid
  • PCB solvents
  • PCB paints

For more than 25 years, our company has managed PCB destruction for clients within a variety of industrial, institutional and commercial industries, with zero environmental incidents. Why trust the handling and disposal of this difficult and highly regulated waste material to anyone else? Follow the leader and contact our PCB destruction specialists to arrange for a free on-site assessment, or PCB destruction service. Our PCB destruction professionals will ensure complete and effective PCB destruction, guaranteed.