Apple hit with EPA penalty over claimed hazardous waste management violations

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced a settlement with Apple over “claims of violations of federal hazardous waste law”. Here are the details.

Apple fined $261,283 as part of the settlement

In a press release issued earlier today, the EPA stated that Apple has addressed multiple hazardous waste management and air emissions issues at its Scott Boulevard facility in Santa Clara, California, as part of a settlement that will also cost the company $261,283 in penalties.

From the press release:

The Apple Inc. facility generates hazardous waste regulated under RCRA. In August 2023 and January 2024, EPA conducted inspections of the facility after receiving a tip and complaint from the public. During the inspections and reviews of facility records, EPA inspectors identified multiple violations of federal requirements for the management of hazardous waste.

These violations included failure to:

• Properly characterize hazardous waste.
• Identify land disposal restriction requirements and provide written notification of the restrictions.
• Maintain a permit to store hazardous waste for more than 90 days.
• Control air emissions from a solvent waste tank.
• Properly label and date hazardous waste containers.
• Follow hazardous waste container management standards.
• Perform and document daily inspections of hazardous waste tanks.

To address these issues, Apple took several steps, including modifying its solvent waste processes and installing an air emissions control device.

Commenting on the settlement, an EPA representative said the following:

“Hazardous waste regulations serve as critical safeguards for facility workers, communities, and the environment. (…) EPA’s actions will protect human health and the environment in the community of Santa Clara from the risk of hazardous waste.”

This isn’t the first time Apple has been cited for hazardous-waste practices in California.

In 2016, the state’s Department of Toxic Substances Control fined Apple $450,000 for hazardous electronic-waste violations at its Cupertino and Sunnyvale facilities, where the company processed nearly two million pounds of e-waste without the required regulatory notifications.

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