USA, June 29, 2012 -- This long time problem for US nonwoven manufacturers of disposable rags and wipes stems from a 1976 EPA Resource and Conservation and Recovery Act relating to the treatment, storage, and disposal of hazardous waste. This act states that anything mixed with hazardous waste has to then be treated as hazardous waste itself. This means that any nonwoven disposables exposed to toxic waste have to then be treated as such. However woven rags and wipes are not subject to these same regulations. Some laundered rag companies have even started marketing and advestising the fact that they don't have to follow the RCRA regulations and are therefore cheaper and less of a hassle to use.
