Why we refuse 7% of inbound loads
Turning away work is the least popular thing a yard does and the thing that keeps the wash bay honest. Here is every category we refuse and the reasoning behind each.
- Sheet
- 07
- Revision
- 2026-10
- Scale
- 1:1
- Drawn at
- Peoria IL
A reuse company's incentives all push towards taking the load. More containers is more inventory, more throughput, more revenue. The only thing holding that in check is a written list of what we do not accept, applied by people who are not paid on volume.
| Category | Why refused | Who should handle it |
|---|---|---|
| Acute hazardous (P-list) residue | Beyond our permits and our competence | Licensed TSDF |
| Restricted-use pesticide containers | Legal resale route does not exist | Manufacturer take-back program |
| PCB-contaminated oils, TSCA material | Specialist handling and documentation | TSCA-permitted facility |
| Medical or infectious residue | Not a waste stream we are equipped for | Medical waste contractor |
| Unidentifiable residue, unwilling site | We will not open what nobody will describe | Characterisation lab first |
| Containers full of product | Disposal of contents is a separate licensed job | Licensed disposal, then us |
| Containers the seller does not own | Usually leased pool assets | Return to the pool operator |
The hardest category is the fifth
Acute hazardous waste is easy to refuse because it is obvious and documented. The hard refusals are containers with residue nobody can name and nobody will investigate — not because they are dangerous necessarily, but because an unnamed residue makes every subsequent decision a guess, and the person taking that risk is the wash bay operator standing next to it.
In 2024 we turned away 740 containers on documentation grounds that were probably perfectly fine. We do not know what happened to them and that bothers us, which is why it is written into our annual report under the heading of things we got wrong. Being conservative about history means some good containers went somewhere else.
What we will do instead of refusing
- Help reconstruct a declaration from labels, purchase records and plant knowledge. Most 'unknown' containers are knowable with twenty minutes of effort by somebody on site.
- Arrange characterisation through a lab before we quote, so the load becomes an ordinary job rather than a refusal.
- Coordinate licensed disposal of remaining product first, then buy the empty container. This is a common and completely routine sequence.
- Name the right handler. If it is not ours, we say who it belongs to, with no sales pitch attached.
- Take the sound portion of a mixed load and refuse the rest in writing, which is the document a landlord or auditor usually needs.
“A yard that never says no is a yard that has never read its own permits.”
— Written on the intake pad wall
How to make sure your load is not the seven percent
- Name the last product and its concentration, not its category.
- Say whether the container ever held anything else, even roughly.
- Say how it has been stored and for how long.
- Rinse if you can, and send the records if you do.
- Photograph the UN plate and the placard, even if the plate is damaged — especially if it is damaged.
- If you genuinely do not know what is in a container, say that. Admitting it is the fastest route to a solution; guessing is the slowest.
Not sure which bucket you are in?
Describe the residue in the message field. If it is not ours we will tell you whose it is, and that answer is free.