Reducing Secondary Waste with Dry Ice Blasting

Industrial cleaning generates waste from the contamination being removed and from the cleaning materials themselves. Facilities must handle, store, and dispose of both properly. Dry ice blasting eliminates this secondary waste stream entirely. The pellets sublimate into carbon dioxide gas during cleaning, which means facilities only deal with the original contamination instead of managing multiple waste types.

The Secondary Waste Problem

Chemical cleaning creates waste that combines the original contamination with the cleaning agents used to remove it. A facility cleaning oil and grease from machinery ends up with drums of contaminated solvent that’s more difficult to dispose of than the original oil would have been. The mixture often qualifies as hazardous waste even when the contamination alone wouldn’t. Water-based cleaning produces similar problems. Rinse water contains both the contaminants and any detergents or chemicals used during cleaning. This wastewater needs collection, storage, and proper disposal or treatment. Facilities in areas with strict discharge regulations might need expensive pretreatment systems just to send water to municipal treatment plants.

Abrasive media adds another layer of complexity. Sand, glass beads, or plastic media used in blasting operations become contaminated with whatever they remove. A facility blasting rust off steel parts ends up with tons of rust-contaminated media that needs disposal. The cost of hauling this material away often exceeds what the media itself cost originally. Some media can be recycled through cleaning and separation processes, but this requires equipment and adds handling steps that consume time and labor.

How Dry Ice Eliminates Secondary Waste

Dry ice pellets turn directly from solid to gas without leaving any residue. The carbon dioxide disperses into the atmosphere, which means there’s no cleaning media to collect and dispose of afterward. The only waste generated is the contamination that was removed from the surface being cleaned. This contamination is often easier to handle than the mixed waste streams that other methods create. Oil scraped off machinery can be disposed of as oil. Paint chips knocked off a surface can be collected and disposed of as paint waste. There’s no mixing of waste types that complicates disposal classification and increases costs.

Simplified Waste Handling Procedures

Facilities using dry ice blasting need basic cleanup procedures to collect the removed contamination. This usually involves sweeping or vacuuming the work area after cleaning is complete. The collected material goes into appropriate waste containers based on what it is, not what it’s mixed with. There’s no need for special containers designed for solvent-contaminated materials or water-tight drums for liquid waste. The reduction in container types simplifies procurement and reduces the variety of disposal services needed. Facilities report spending less time managing waste paperwork because they’re not tracking multiple hazardous waste streams through complex disposal chains.

Cost Savings Through Waste Reduction

Waste disposal represents a significant operating expense for industrial facilities. Hazardous waste disposal costs several times more than standard industrial waste. Transportation fees, container rental, and treatment charges all add up quickly when facilities generate multiple waste streams from cleaning operations. Dry ice blasting cuts these costs by eliminating the cleaning media waste stream entirely. The savings compound over time as facilities avoid recurring disposal fees for every cleaning cycle. Some operations report that waste reduction alone justifies their investment in dry ice blasting equipment, with the improved cleaning performance and reduced downtime adding additional value. nexAir supplies the dry ice and technical support that facilities need to implement waste-reducing cleaning programs. Our team helps operations quantify their waste reduction and cost savings, and nexAir’s KnowHow™ ensures facilities Forge Forward with cleaning methods that reduce both environmental impact and operating expenses.