The process of managing the recycling and reuse of solid and hazardous waste has taken on new dimensions as carbon dioxide and methane have been added to the list of significant contributors to greenhouse gases, regulations have been developed in Europe that require the management of products and their associated waste streams from cradle to grave, and the price of petroleum and derivative products has increased nearly an order of magnitude over the past decade. Additionally, we have seen a sudden and dramatic increase in the number of chemicals, particularly pharmaceuticals, in our streams, rivers, lakes, and oceans. Over the past decade, Exponent’s scientists, engineers, and health professionals have been leaders in developing cost-effective, innovative solutions to our clients’ solid and hazardous waste management challenges.
Exponent engineers and scientists have addressed every aspect of solid and hazardous waste management, from the product level to the management facilities to conversion to new products. At the regional management-facility level, we have addressed every issue and stage, from advance planning and permitting (including ecological and potential health impacts) to design, operation, and closure. Facilities include recycling centers, transfer stations, landfills, co-generation incinerators/boilers, open burning/open detonation facilities, innovative recycling systems for commercial and industrial wastes and byproducts, mineral exploration and development wastes, high-tech waste streams, and pharmaceutical waste management and recycling and recovery.
Exponent’s scientists and engineers have also been out front in the development of environmentally friendly products, testing and verification of the claims for these products, and in finding new uses for old or otherwise-to-be-discarded products. 
Greenhouse gas and economics are the issues rewriting the rules in this field, and Exponent is leading the way. Companies desire to reduce their carbon footprint, and their carbon costs, and are looking for new ways to recover energy and reduce costs in their daily operation. Whether working directly with these clients to develop new products and solutions or bringing together multiple clients to provide regional and national solutions to these problems, Exponent’s scientists and engineers from the Environmental Practice—with help from peers in our 21 other practices, covering over 90 disciplines—have already achieved an amazing level of success.
Exponent’s services include:
- Product development and evaluation to verify green claims
- Waste reduction and reuse analysis
- Evaluation of regional transfer, handling, disposal, recycling, and energy recovery facilities for compliance, safety, and efficiency for purposes of mergers and acquisitions and for litigation
- Pharmaceutical waste management, risk reduction, and reuse, and petitions for regulatory changes or exemptions
- Evaluation of operation, management, compliance, and improvement of operations of waste-to-energy and energy-recovery projects
- Landfill design and operations evaluations, including leachate management, hazard management and gas recovery
- Landfill closure assessments, planning and management consulting