All News Releases By Date

West Virginia Company Joins EPA Voluntary Program to Reduce and Reuse Target Chemicals

Release Date: 06/19/2008
Contact Information: Donna Heron @ 215-814-5113/ heron.donna@epa.gov

PHILADELPHIA (June 19, 2008) -- The GrafTech International Holdings facility in Clarksburg, W.Va. joined the growing ranks of companies enrolling in EPA’s National Partnership for Environmental Priorities (NPEP). The program encourages public and private organizations to form partnerships with EPA and to commit to reduce the use or release of any of 31 priority chemicals.

As a new NPEP partner, GrafTech has committed to reduce waste through the recovery of a dust byproduct that contains polycyclic aromatic compounds (PACs). The dust, which is generated during GrafTech’s manufacturing process, had previously been disposed of in landfills. Instead, GrafTech will recover and market the materials for use as an industry fuel enhancer. GrafTech has committed to recovering 2,070 pounds of PACs from dust by January 2009.

“GrafTech has demonstrated its environmental leadership by enrolling in EPA’s National Partnership for Enviromental Priorities,” said Abraham Ferdas, director of the Waste and Chemical Management Division in EPA’s mid-Atlantic region. “By enrolling in this voluntary national program, GrafTech becomes a true industry leader by addressing chemical risks at its Clarksburg, facility.”

In addition, GrafTech will upgrade equipment and thereby eliminate 4,253 pounds of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) contained in capacitors at the facility.

EPA, working in conjunction with the public and various industries, has set a goal to reduce the use or release of four million pounds of priority chemicals by 2011. These priority chemicals have been targeted because they can accumulate in living organisms or have high toxicity levels.

GrafTech is a leader in the field of graphite material science and has more than 120 years of experience in the carbon and graphite industry. Among the products that GrafTech develops and manufactures are, graphite electrodes, advanced carbon and graphite materials, and flexible graphite. GrafTech has facilities on four continents and its products are marketed in more than 80 countries around the world.

For more information on the NPEP program: www.epa.gov/epaoswer/hazwaste/minimize/npep/