Hazardous waste manifest

A buyer of a business that sends hazardous waste or liquid industrial waste off site meets the manifest at the point of shipment. It is the paper or electronic trail showing where waste went. Registration of the site is a different step, covered in hazardous waste generator registration. See also what environmental checks you need before buying.

Ontario

Regulation 347 says a generator must not let subject waste leave the facility by transfer to a waste transportation system unless the generator has completed a manifest (s. 19(1)(a); s. 19(1)(b) sets a separate route for certain direct discharges to sewage works or sewage systems). No carrier may have subject waste unless a manifest with the generator and carrier information completed accompanies it, except during a transfer while the manifest is being completed by a generator or receiver (s. 21(1)); a paper copy or access to an electronic display of the completed information is sufficient (s. 21(3)). For transport within Ontario, the generator, carrier and receiver each submit their manifest information through the Registry (s. 23).

Alberta and what to ask

Alberta’s hazardous waste management page points to the Alberta User Guide for Waste Managers, which it says explains transportation and manifest requirements. This entry covers Ontario in detail; check the rules where you are.

• Ask the seller for recent manifests and which carrier and receiving facility they name.
• Ask who completed the generator section and whether the same business will do so after closing.
• Ask whether any shipment was refused or left unreconciled.