15.1 Container Handling, Triple Rinse, and Disposal
Key Takeaways
- 40 CFR 171.103(c)(2)(ix) requires Core knowledge of identification, storage, transport, handling, mixing, and disposal of pesticides and used containers, including keeping children away from both the product and the empty jug.
- N.J.A.C. 7:30-9.6(c) forbids placing or keeping any pesticide in a container commonly used for food, drink, or household products; 9.6(a) requires a readable registered label except for a properly marked service container.
- A New Jersey service container must carry a copy of the registered label or a readable label with brand name, EPA Registration Number, name and percentage of active ingredients, and the signal word (Danger-Poison, Warning, or Caution).
- 40 CFR 156.146 triple rinse for a shakeable liquid jug is: drain 10 seconds after drip, fill one-quarter full, recap, shake 10 seconds, pour rinsate into the tank, and repeat twice more; pressure rinse at about 40 PSI for at least 30 seconds is the labeled equivalent.
- N.J.A.C. 7:30-9.7 forbids disposal that harms people or the environment or that violates State or Federal law; leftover mix and rinsate go onto a labeled site at a labeled rate, not into a storm drain, sink, or woods.
40 CFR 171.103(c)(2)(ix) is a Core competency of its own: commercial applicators must know proper identification, storage, transport, handling, mixing procedures, and disposal methods for pesticides and used pesticide containers, including precautions to prevent children from having access to pesticides and pesticide containers. New Jersey stacks three rules on that federal sentence. N.J.A.C. 7:30-9.6 governs containers and labels. N.J.A.C. 7:30-9.7 is the disposal floor. N.J.A.C. 7:30-6.14, and the matching sentence in 7:30-9.6(d), incorporate the federal Container and Containment regulations at 40 CFR Parts 9, 156, and 165.
On the closed-book Core, empty is not a legal status until the label's residue-removal steps are finished. An unrinsed jug is still a pesticide container. A soda bottle with leftover mix is a 7:30-9.6(c) violation even if the mix is dilute. A measuring pitcher of concentrate with no EPA number is an illegal service container under 7:30-9.6(b).
Original containers, labels, and service containers
N.J.A.C. 7:30-9.6(a) forbids storing, transporting, or possessing any pesticide if part or all of its registered label or labeling is missing, obscured, altered, unreadable, or damaged beyond use or recognition. The exceptions are narrow: pesticides in service containers, pesticides already in application equipment, material in manufacturing or formulating, and public officials performing official duties under State or Federal pesticide law.
Keep the EPA-registered label on the jug you bought until that container is empty and processed. Do not peel the label to make the bottle look clean. Do not tape a work order over the signal word. Do not park a spray tank overnight with leftover mix and no way to identify the product.
A service container is a temporary holding vessel — a mix jug, a day tank, a measuring pitcher used to carry concentrate or dilute mix to the job. N.J.A.C. 7:30-9.6(b) says you may not store, transport, or possess pesticide in a service container unless it has either a copy of the registered label or a readable label with all four of these:
- Brand or trade name
- EPA Registration Number
- Name and percentage of active ingredients in the service container
- Appropriate signal word: Danger-Poison, Warning, or Caution
Missing the EPA number is as illegal as missing the brand. Tape that says weed killer is not a service-container label. If two concentrates share a pitcher during the day, you have created an unlabeled mixture — relabel or, better, do not dual-use the pitcher.
Food, drink, and household containers
N.J.A.C. 7:30-9.6(c) is a one-sentence Core item: No person shall place or keep any pesticide in any container commonly used for food, drink, or household products. Sports-drink bottles, mason jars, milk jugs, bleach bottles, and coffee cans are out. Children and pets read shape and color, not EPA numbers. 40 CFR 171.103(c)(2)(ix) exists because household look-alikes are a classic oral-exposure route.
Do not pour leftover mix into a water bottle so it will not freeze in the tank. That is both a 9.6(c) violation and a child-access failure. The lawful holding vessel is the original container, a labeled service container, or the application equipment itself.
Triple rinse and pressure rinse
40 CFR Part 156 Subpart H tells registrants what residue-removal language must appear on rigid nonrefillable containers of dilutable pesticides. You follow that label. 40 CFR 156.146 is the script the Core expects. Rinse promptly after emptying. Dried residue is harder to remove and may keep the container from counting as empty for recycling or ordinary solid-waste disposal. Wear the mixing-and-loading PPE the label requires — rinsing is still handler work.
| Method | When it applies | Core numbers |
|---|---|---|
| Triple rinse, shakeable liquid | Rigid nonrefillable jug small enough to shake | Drain 10 seconds after drip; fill 1/4 full; recap; shake 10 seconds; pour rinsate into the tank; drain 10 seconds; repeat twice more |
| Triple rinse, shakeable solid | Dry flowable or similar in a shakeable jug | Empty into the tank; fill 1/4 full; recap; shake 10 seconds; pour; drain 10 seconds after drip; repeat twice more |
| Triple rinse, too large to shake | Drums and large rigid containers | Fill 1/4 full; tighten closures; roll 30 seconds (at least one revolution); tip each end several times; empty; repeat twice more |
| Pressure rinse | When the label offers it as equivalent | Drain 10 seconds after drip; invert over the tank; insert nozzle in the side; rinse at about 40 PSI for at least 30 seconds; drain 10 seconds after drip |
Put every load of rinsate into the spray tank and apply it to a labeled site at a labeled rate, or store it in a labeled container for later use on a legal site. Do not dump rinsate on a gravel lot, into a storm drain, into a shop sink, or onto a right-of-way the label does not name.
Leftover tank mix is still a pesticide. Mix only what the job needs. If a quart remains after a Category 3B lawn, finish a labeled turf site at the labeled rate the same day. Storing leftover mix in an unlabeled tank overnight recreates the 9.6(a)/(b) problem. N.J.A.C. 7:30-9.7(a) forbids disposing of pesticides, containers, or equipment that has held pesticide in a manner that causes harm or injury to persons or the environment, or a significant risk of that harm. 7:30-9.7(b) forbids disposal that violates State or Federal law, including hazardous-waste rules that still apply to unrinsed containers of listed products.
Paper and plastic bags: completely empty into application equipment. Do not water-rinse a paper bag unless the label says to. Aerosol cans: never puncture or burn; follow the label. Pressurized containers explode in a fire or a trash compactor.
After the container is empty
Nonrefillable jugs: offer for recycling if available, or puncture and dispose in a sanitary landfill, or as the label directs. Puncturing after a proper rinse prevents reuse as a water jug. Refillable minibulks return to the registrant or refiller; do not puncture a refillable container you do not own.
The New Jersey Department of Agriculture (NJDA) agricultural recycling program accepts nonrefillable high-density polyethylene #2 (HDPE) containers no larger than 55 gallons that have been triple rinsed, from NJDEP-licensed agricultural, professional, and commercial applicators and from government agencies. Bring the license to the collection. NJDA has awarded one Core recertification unit when license holders follow the required processing steps and present the license — confirm current credit availability with NJDA or NJDEP before counting on it. Unrinsed jugs are not recycling feedstock; they are pesticide waste.
Containment at mix and load
N.J.A.C. 7:30-6.14 and 7:30-9.6(d) require compliance with 40 CFR Parts 9, 156, and 165. For agricultural pesticides, commercial applicators, custom blenders, and retail refillers who keep a stationary pesticide container (fixed, or remaining 30 consecutive days) designed to hold 500 gallons or more of liquid or 4,000 pounds or more of dry product generally need a secondary containment unit. Containment pads are required at dispensing areas that empty or rinse refillable agricultural containers, dispense from those large stationary tanks into service containers or application equipment, or refill containers for sale. Mixing a 2.5-gallon jug of turf herbicide on a driveway is not the 500-gallon tank rule. Rinsing that same jug so the rinsate runs to a storm sewer is still a 9.7 disposal violation and, if the pesticide leaves a labeled site, a spill under 7:30-1.2.
Keep emptied containers out of the reach of children. Do not store unrinsed jugs in a garage toy bin. Do not leave a half-full service container on a porch. Lock the storage area. Transport original containers upright, with labels readable, outside the passenger compartment whenever the vehicle allows it.
Worked New Jersey scenarios
Scenario A — soda-bottle leftover. A Category 3B applicator in Mercer County has a quart of tank mix after a lawn job. He pours it into a clear drink bottle so it will not freeze in the tank and leaves it in the truck cab. That is 7:30-9.6(c) plus a child-access failure under 171.103(c)(2)(ix). Lawful path: apply the leftover to another labeled turf site at the labeled rate, or hold it in a service container labeled with brand, EPA number, active-ingredient percentage, and signal word.
Scenario B — one rinse is not three. A Category 1A grower dumps a 2.5-gallon jug, splashes it once with a hose, and throws it in the dumpster. 40 CFR 156.146 requires three 1/4-full rinses or a 40 PSI / 30-second pressure rinse. One splash does not empty the container. 7:30-9.7 is in play if residue leaks in municipal waste.
Scenario C — unlabeled measuring pitcher. A Category 7A operator keeps a plastic pitcher of concentrated insecticide on the van floor with no label. That pitcher is a service container. 7:30-9.6(b) requires the four-element label or a copy of the registered label.
Official sources: N.J.A.C. 7:30-9.6, N.J.A.C. 7:30-9.7, N.J.A.C. 7:30-6.14, 40 CFR 156.146, 40 CFR 171.103.
A New Jersey commercial applicator pours diluted insecticide into a plastic pitcher for a same-day 7A job. The pitcher has a piece of tape that reads the brand name only. What else must appear for this service container to be legal under N.J.A.C. 7:30-9.6(b)?
Which practice is prohibited by N.J.A.C. 7:30-9.6(c)?
After emptying a shakeable 2.5-gallon jug of a liquid dilutable pesticide, what is the 40 CFR 156.146 triple-rinse sequence the New Jersey Core expects?