The Central Pollution Control Board (Central Pollution Control Board – CPCB), on December 2025, issued a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) and Checklist of Minimal Requisite Facilities under Rule 9 of the Hazardous and Other Wastes (Management and Transboundary Movement) Rules, 2016, permitting the utilisation of spent Sodium Chloride (NaCl) generated during manufacture of the pesticide Diethyl p-Toluene sulfonyl oxy methyl phosphonate (DESMP). The spent NaCl, classified as hazardous waste under Category 29.1 of Schedule I, is allowed to be utilised as a preservative for raw hides in the tannery industry, subject to strict source, quality and end-use conditions.
The SOP lays down a regulatory framework for SPCBs/PCCs for grant of authorization, including verification of waste characteristics, ensuring utilisation strictly as per the notified SOP, issuance of passbooks, maintenance of records through the National Hazardous Waste Tracking System (NHWTS), quarterly compliance verification during the first year, and periodic monitoring thereafter. It prescribes handling, storage and transportation safeguards, mandatory use of PPEs, mechanized and controlled application of spent NaCl on hides, proper storage sheds with impervious flooring and seepage collection, wastewater treatment through ETP/CETP or zero-liquid-discharge systems, and compliance with occupational safety, environmental liability and insurance requirements.
Further, the SOP restricts sale of spent NaCl and preserved hides only between authorized generators, utilizers and tannery units, prohibits diversion to traders or sensitive sectors such as food, pharma or cosmetics, and mandates specific labelling of preserved hides. It also specifies fugitive emission limits, effluent discharge standards, siting norms in notified industrial areas, plant sizing norms (0.7 MT spent NaCl per 1 MT raw hide), and a minimum infrastructure checklist to ensure environmentally sound utilisation.
