Parts cleaning plays a vital role in maintaining production equipment and product quality. But behind the scenes, it can also be a sustainability risk, from excessive chemical use to poor industrial waste management.
Rethinking your maintenance waste management plan isn’t just good for the planet, it’s a smart move for your bottom line. By reducing waste at the source and working with the right partners, businesses can unlock operational savings, reduce environmental risk, and ensure regulatory compliance.
What Drives Waste in Traditional Parts Cleaning?
In many facilities, parts cleaning is still performed manually using solvents, rags and wipes, and disposable items like blue roll. While this seems simple, it’s often inefficient and wasteful.
Common sources of resource waste include:
- Overuse of Cleaning Chemicals due to inefficient processes.
- Excess Consumables, like disposable wipes or gloves.
- Overuse Of Water from excessive cleaning or rework
- Wasted Labour from lack of automation or rework
- Inefficient Cleaning Cycles, requiring rework or repeated processing.
- Faulty Output, poor quality output may need to be scrapped.
- Premature Wear or Damage to Equipment, poorly maintained parts (and machines) may need to be replaced more frequently.
- Regulatory Fines and operational shutdowns due to non-compliance.
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The Environmental and Financial Impact of Improper Waste Management
Improper waste management carries significant risks:
- Environmental Damage, including the release of harmful substances into water or soil and air.
- Increased Costs from frequent disposal and wasted product.
- Regulatory Fines and operational shutdowns due to non-compliance.
On the flip side, a proactive waste management plan can help reduce your environmental impact and protect your business. Partnering with experienced providers means hazardous waste is removed safely, handled responsibly, and treated with the best available technology — with Safetykleen that includes recycling and energy recovery.
At Safetykleen, we handle over 80 million litres of used cleaning chemistries annually — collecting, transporting and processing them in full compliance with local regulations.
Strategies to Reduce Waste at the Source
Reducing waste begins with rethinking your cleaning process. Here are three practical steps:
- Switch From Manual to Automated Cleaning
Automated parts washers use precise amounts of chemistry, eliminate reliance on single-use materials, and reduce rework. The result is less waste, lower cost, and more consistent cleaning performance.
- Choose Systems With Built-in Filtration or Oil Skimming
Modern machines can extend the life of your cleaning solution by removing contaminants on the go. That means fewer chemical changes and less waste.
- Train Your Teams and Maintain Your Equipment
Cleaning chemistry lasts longer and performs better when cleaning systems are used and maintained correctly. This simple step is often overlooked, which is why Safetykleen provides free training and continued support.
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Waste Removal and Recycling: Smarter Industrial Waste Management
Even with the best equipment, waste generation is unavoidable. But what you do next makes all the difference.
Choosing an industrial waste management partner like Safetykleen allows you to:
- Schedule compliant collection and transport of waste.
- Separate hazardous and non-hazardous waste streams.
- Recycle valuable resources like thinners and oils.
Safetykleen is Working Towards a Closed-Loop Model
Waste Management
In 2024 alone, we collected 50,000 drums of waste and over 24 million litres of oil, diverting it from landfill and reducing environmental impact.
Recycling
We provide 4.6 million litres of thinners annually — and recycle around 70% through our own refinery, Orm Bergold Chemie. Studies have shown that solvent recycling is 70% less carbon-intensive than producing new solvents.1
Compliance and Certification Considerations
The legal requirements around any waste management plan are stringent and change often. For manufacturers and maintenance teams, staying up to date can be a burden.
A good industrial waste solutions partner will handle it all:
- Paperwork and Documentation (e.g. consignment notes, transfer certificates)
- Safe Storage and Labelling of hazardous waste
- Safe, Sustainable Removal and Disposal of waste
- Reporting and Audits to support ISO and internal ESG commitments
With Safetykleen, customers experience a hassle-free, all-in-one service — from collection to compliance. Our Kleenwaste service, active across the UK, Ireland, Portugal, and Spain, manages a wide range of waste types, including aerosols, oils, and toxic substances.
SOURCES
How do you choose the right paint cleaning solution?
Choosing the right paint cleaning solution can be difficult, but here are a few things to consider to at least guide you in the right decision-making direction.
- How many paint guns do you need to clean? Cost and quality of the solution will determine how you choose.
- How often do you need to clean them? A better quality cleaning solution will make for better cleaning results and less cleaning overall.
- How many different colours and types of paint you use in each gun? The more paints you need to use will determine how often you need to clean and the strength of the solution.
- How much space do you have on site for the machine and also for any cleaning fluids you may need to store? Practicality vs performance will factor into the decision-making process, you will want the best equipment for the space you have available.
- How will you dispose of any used paint thinners and spray gun cleaning solutions? Consider waste management and the most cost effective, eco-friendly and time saving way to deal with that.
How sustainable is parts cleaning?
The rags and other cleaning tools used when cleaning by hand are often not reusable, or quickly wear out and are not recyclable. And while used solvents can be recycled it requires special equipment and sufficient volume to be cost-effective. But, if you use well-insulated, automatic, programmable parts cleaning machines with aqueous cleaning chemicals instead of solvents, it is possible to develop a process that minimises wastage in terms of energy use, water use and the volume of cleaning waste that has to be handled in a compliant fashion.
