How to dispose of spent resins.
Ion exchange resins are non-hazardous. The material safety data sheet indicates that standard ion exchange resins have a zero rating for toxicity, fire, and reactivity. This only applies to new or uncontaminated resins.
Materials that are collected on the resin beads during service can change the hazard rating of the material. For example, if a resin was used to remove heavy metals from a waste water stream, it would then be considered a hazardous or toxic material. It is imperative that you check with the proper authorities before disposing of resin that may have been in contact with heavy metals or other hazardous materials.
Ion exchange resins that are used to process tap water or potable water sources are normally only in contact with non-hazardous dissolved solids, such as hardness, alkalinity, and others. These resins can be disposed of as ordinary trash. Check first!
Resins should be disposed of in their exhausted or salt form. This may require contacting the bed with several bed volumes of dilute (5-15%) sodium chloride. Otherwise, cation resins in the hydrogen form may have too low a pH for disposal and anion resins in the hydroxide form may have too high a pH.
Contact the ResinTech office for additional information such as product specification sheets or MSDS.