Coal Combustion Residuals (CCRs)

December 09, 2011

What do wallboard, bricks and roadbeds have in common? These – and many other products – are made in part by recycling coal combustion residuals, or CCRs for short. But, if the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) continues on its regulatory track, the formula may change drastically.

Coal combustion residuals are produced when coal is burned to produce electricity. When properly managed, CCRs are environmentally safe and can be recycled into beneficial uses. In fact, nearly 45 percent of the country’s CCRs are recycled and used to make other products.

Selling the byproducts of coal-based electricity generation not only reduces the amount of waste, it also helps contain costs and offset expenses. 

EPA has proposed new regulations that would classify CCRs as hazardous waste, changing the game for electric utilities, the industries that manufacture products from CCRs, and ultimately consumers. If CCRs are deemed hazardous waste, they will fall under strict guidelines for handling and disposal – effectively ending beneficial use practices. 

EPRI (the Electrical Power Research Institute) estimates that as many as 316,000 jobs are in danger as a result of one of EPA’s proposed CCR regulations. It could cost the electric industry up to $110 billion to comply with the regulations, which would be passed on to consumers through higher electricity rates.

If regulation is deemed necessary, electric utilities, including EREC, support regulation of CCRs as non-hazardous materials. The industry is willing to work with EPA to ensure CCRs are handled safely, while preserving their use in other products and keeping electricity costs low for our members.

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