Since the passing of the Clean Water Act in the 1970’s, it has been the policy of the United States that “Pollution should be prevented or reduced at the source whenever feasible; pollution that cannot be prevented should be recycled in an environmentally safe manner”. As of January 2016, there are 12 statewide mandates and approximately 25 municipalities requiring dental offices to manage their amalgam waste. However, on December 16, 2016, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a regulation requiring all 50 states be compliant to a new standard regarding amalgam waste. While some dentists believed the December regulation was just conjecture, the truth is that this has been a patient and methodical process from the EPA for the last 15 years.
