What Certifications and Contract Details Does GemChem Hold?

Updated

GemChem holds a Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PADEP) permit as a Residual Waste Processing and Disposal Facility, is licensed to transport hazardous and non-hazardous waste across six states, and maintains professional certifications including PA COSTARS membership. The company also publishes contract numbers, ID numbers, and other verification details through a dedicated resources page. If you are evaluating GemChem as a waste vendor or need to confirm its credentials before signing an agreement, the sections below cover what is documented and where to find it.

Permits and Facility Status

The most consequential credential for a waste services provider is its facility permit, because it determines what waste streams the company can legally accept and process.

  • PADEP Residual Waste Processing and Disposal Facility permit — GemChem operates as a fully permitted residual waste processing and disposal facility under the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection. This is the core authorization behind its disposal services.
  • 10-day in-transit hazardous waste storage — The facility holds complimentary 10-day in-transit storage authorization for hazardous waste. This matters if your material needs to move through an intermediate point before final disposal, since storage windows are regulated and a facility without this authorization cannot hold your waste even briefly.

If your waste is classified as residual (non-hazardous industrial waste) or hazardous, this permit status is the first thing to verify against your own generator requirements.

Transportation Licensing by State

GemChem is licensed to transport both hazardous and non-hazardous waste in six states:

State
Pennsylvania
Maryland
Delaware
Ohio
Virginia
West Virginia

If your site or disposal destination falls outside these states, transportation licensing is the constraint to check first — a facility permit in Pennsylvania does not automatically authorize hauling across another state's borders.

Professional Certifications

Beyond facility and transport permits, GemChem lists professional certifications held by its staff and organization. The specifically named example is PA COSTARS membership.

PA COSTARS is a Pennsylvania cooperative purchasing program. For public-sector or cooperative-eligible buyers, membership can simplify procurement because contracted pricing and terms are already established. If you are a municipality, school district, or other COSTARS-eligible entity, this is worth confirming directly, since eligibility rules and current contract terms are set by the program rather than by GemChem.

GemChem also states that its environmental field services are delivered by "licensed and certified environmental professionals." The site does not enumerate every individual certification, so if a specific credential (for example, a particular inspector or handler certification) is required by your contract, request it directly.

Contract Numbers, ID Numbers, and Verification Details

GemChem maintains a Resources & Details page described as a list of "contract numbers, ID numbers and other details for easy access." This is the intended destination for buyers who need to cross-reference GemChem's identifiers against their own procurement or compliance records.

The site does not reproduce those numbers in the main page text, so the practical step is:

  1. Go to the Resources & Details page on gemchemsolutions.com.
  2. Locate the contract or ID number relevant to your jurisdiction or purchasing program.
  3. Match it against the requirements in your own vendor onboarding or bid documentation.

If a number you need is not listed, the site directs visitors to contact GemChem directly — the company states its experts are available to discuss specific service needs.

What the Site Does Not Specify

To avoid over-reading the available information:

  • No pricing, rate schedules, or payment terms are published on the pages reviewed.
  • No expiration dates for permits or certifications are given.
  • The full list of individual staff certifications is not enumerated.
  • COSTARS eligibility conditions are not restated by GemChem.

For any of these, treat the website as a starting point and confirm current status directly with GemChem or the issuing authority (PADEP for the facility permit, the COSTARS program for purchasing terms).

How to Use This When Evaluating GemChem

If your goal is vendor qualification, the sequence that follows from the documented information is:

  1. Confirm the permit covers your waste type — residual vs. hazardous, and whether 10-day in-transit storage is relevant to your logistics.
  2. Check the state list against your shipping route — all origin, transit, and destination states must be covered.
  3. Pull the contract/ID numbers from the Resources & Details page and match them to your procurement requirements.
  4. Verify COSTARS applicability if you are a cooperative-eligible buyer.
  5. Request anything not published — pricing, certificate copies, and expiration dates — through direct contact.

The site's own framing supports this: GemChem describes its approach as identifying customer service needs and business challenges first, then offering solutions, with the stated outcome being "peace of mind with Environmental Compliance." Verification of credentials is the buyer-side counterpart to that process.