Cases — 4600210

As of Oct 4, 2026.

Activity name

BASIC RECYCLING, INC

Case number

05-2011-5000

Case name

BASIC RECYCLING, INC

Region code

05

Fiscal year

2011

Activity type code

JDC

Activity type desc

Judicial

Activity status code

CLS

Activity status desc

Closed

Activity status date

2017-07-15

Lead agency

EPA

Case status date

2017-07-15

Enforcement outcome code

ECP

Enforcement outcome desc

Final Order With Penalty

Voluntary self disclosure

false

Multimedia flag

false

Summary text

U.S. EPA Region 5 entered into a Consent Decree (CD) with Basic Recycling, Inc. (Basic) to resolve violations of the Clean Air Act (CAA). On August 11, 2008, EPA issued to Basic a Finding of Violation (FOV) pertaining to its scrap metal recycling facility in Detroit, MI. The FOV alleged that Basic accepted for recycling automobiles and small appliances such as refrigerators and room air conditioners that contained or once contained ozone-depleting refrigerants, without either recovering the refrigerant from the vehicles and appliances or verifying that the refrigerant had been properly recovered prior to sale to Basic, in violation of regulations found at 40 CFR 82.156. The monetary penalty was determined to be $1,400,000, but an inability to pay determination was made by the Department of Justice. Due to this inability to pay, the penalty was reduced to $25,000. The CD requires Basic or their agent to properly recover the refrigerant from vehicles and appliances it accepts for scrap recycling at its Detroit facility. Basic's refrigerant recovery program is estimated to recover approximately 179 lbs of ozone-depleting refrigerants per year. Since the refrigerants used in vehicle air conditioning systems and small appliances also are potent global-warming gases, these resolutions will, in addition to protecting the ozone layer, have the added benefit of reducing the emissions of greenhouse gases.

Created at

2026-10-04T02:01:32.650836+00:00

Updated at

2026-10-04T02:01:32.650836+00:00

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