A “waste” is a material that has exhausted its useful life; that has become contaminated, worn out, or generated as a by-product of a manufacturing process. An inventory of all waste should be prepared. When assessing your waste streams, all wastes generated need to be considered and then classified as either hazardous or non-hazardous. All waste must be evaluated to determine if it qualifies as RCRA hazardous waste.

To determine if wastes are hazardous requires certification through one of the following methods:

• Generator knowledge of the process;
• Manufacturer knowledge (and Material Safety Data Sheet information); or
• Laboratory analyses.

In short, “hazardous waste” is defined as a solid, gas, or liquid by quantity and/or concentration that demonstrates physical or chemical properties that pose a hazard to human health or the environment when improperly stored, treated, transported, or disposed. Hazardous waste is also generated when a container of hazardous material is damaged in transit or can no longer be used for its intended purpose.

Consult the container label or the Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) for product information. All hazardous materials stored on-site require an accompanying MSDS available for review upon request. The basic information found on the MSDS is to ensure safe handling of the material at all stages of its manufacture, storage, use, and disposal. For more in-depth information not found on the MSDS, contact the supplier or manufacturer, whose telephone number is on the label of the product or listed in Section 1 of the MSDS.

There are two ways to categorize a waste, either non-hazardous or hazardous. If hazardous, it is either a characteristic or listed hazardous waste, or contains PCBs at levels over 50 parts per million or more. As a generator of waste, you are responsible for evaluating your waste and conducting a generator-size determination based on the volume or weight of hazardous waste you produce. EPA’s web page, Hazardous Waste Identification, is a very informative resource for characteristic and listed wastes.

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Air Indoor Resources | Asbestos | Mercury | Hazardous Waste

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