Arguments about liability for the sale of "usable wastes" are as old as Superfund.  The fact patterns involving the sale of usable wastes can be varied; however, the cases seem to be governed by the following simple but never explicitly stated rule: a party will be held liable if it sells a waste that cannot be used or won't be used as delivered without first causing the release of a hazardous substance.

This unstated rule explains why parties selling spent solvents to recycling facilities have always been found to have arranged for disposal (the spent solvents can't be used without distillation which causes waste).

The rule likewise explains the product formulation line of cases after Aceto (a party asking a formulator to make a product will be found liable where the party supplies the raw materials with knowledge that the product cannot be formulated without generating hazardous waste).

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