liljay,
Good for you! I will elaborate on this, but this is California style elaboration.
Obviously, the grease on the rags makes the entire rag hazardous waste that must be disposed of properly.
Most generators of greasy rags have a commercial linen, or rag service. These commercial services have the proper equipment (and permits) to wash the rags without impacting the environment.
Greasy rags are not suppose to be land filled..in other words, put in the garbage! You already know this!
Whats tough is that there isn't a system in place for Joe Stovebolt(a small generator) to dispose of his greasy rags in a way that is compliant with federal or state policy.
If you can find a trucking outfit, repair shop, or some other facility that might generate greasy rags (throw aways), they might let you put them in their Hazmat junk drum, if they use one.
This is a real gray area..getting rid of this stuff costs someone money. Our recycling center isn't setup to take rags, and I'll bet there are none in your area that will take them either.
I think it boils down to how "green" do you want to be. If it really matters to you, you will research it and find a safe way to dispose of them.
If you only "sorta" care, you'll do a little searching, then dump a few at a time into your garbage, the dumpster at work, or the one behind the K-mart.
This is sort of typical of how our system works. Everyone hollers about hazardous waste and pollution, but there isn't a real good system in place for the little guy to comply.
So, to answer your question..do what you need to do! Remember, this is coming from California, a highly regulated state.
Stuart
