Hazardous Waste Characteristics: An Overview

It is important to understand the waste your facility generates. Hazardous waste is heavily regulated, meaning it cannot be discarded with your municipal or residual waste and must be disposed of properly. If you are asking, is my waste hazardous? To answer that question, there are four characteristics as one part of The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) process of identifying solid wastes as hazardous wastes under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). The other part is identifying the solid waste as a listed waste. Waste generators must identify both the listed waste and characteristic to determine if their solid waste is hazardous. The four hazardous waste characteristics are ignitability, corrosivity, reactivity, and toxicity. Let’s take a look at each one. 

Ignitability

Ignitability, or something flammable, is present when a solid waste exhibits any of the following properties:

1. It is a liquid, other than an aqueous solution containing less than 24 percent alcohol by volume and has a flash point of less than 60° C (140° F).
2. It is not a liquid and is capable, under standard temperature and pressure, of causing fire through friction, absorption of moisture or spontaneous chemical changes and, when ignited, burns so vigorously and persistently that it creates a hazard.
3. It is an ignitable compressed gas.
4. It is an oxidizer.

Examples of an ignitable hazardous waste (D001) include some solvents, alcohol, and acetone.

Corrosivity

We see corrosivity in wastes that are acidic or alkaline and can corrode metal. If a waste is suspect of corrosivity, it will have these properties:

1. It is aqueous and has a pH less than or equal to 2 or greater than or equal to 12.5.
2. It is a liquid and corrodes steel (SAE 1020) at a rate greater than 6.35 mm (0.250 inch) per year at a test temperature of 55° C (130° F).

Examples of corrosive wastes (D002) include hydrochloric acid, nitric acid, and waste sulfuric acid from automotive batteries.

Reactivity

Reactive wastes create dangerous reactions and can detonate. This characteristic is one of the most common and comes in more forms than others. The EPA recognizes that there are many conditions and situations where reactive materials are present. The properties of the reactivity characteristic are:

1. It is normally unstable and readily undergoes violent change without detonating.
2. It reacts violently with water.
3. It forms potentially explosive mixtures with water.
4. When mixed with water, it generates toxic gases, vapors or fumes.
5. It is a cyanide or sulfide bearing waste which, when exposed to pH conditions between 2 and 12.5, can generate toxic gases, vapors or fumes.
6. It is capable of detonation or explosive reaction if it is subjected to a strong initiating source or heated under confinement.
7. It is readily capable of detonation or explosive decomposition or reaction at standard temperature and pressure.

Examples of reactive hazardous wastes (D003) include dry picric acid, explosives and ethylene oxide.

Toxicity

Toxicity, or poisonous materials, are harmful and/or fatal if ingested or absorbed. Toxic wastes pose a threat to our groundwater, which can have long term effects to human health and the environment. Any materials containing any of the contaminants on the toxicity characteristics list below are considered dangerous immediately. These contaminants are identified solely through a test method called Toxicity Characteristic Leaching Procedure or TCLP.

Examples of toxic hazardous waste are wastes that contain mercury, arsenic and lead.

(1) Hazardous waste number.

(2) Chemical abstracts service number.

(3) Quantitation limit is greater than the calculated regulatory level. The quantitation limit therefore becomes the regulatory level.

(4) If o-, m-, and p-Cresol concentrations cannot be differentiated, the total cresol (D026) concentration is used. The regulatory level of total cresol is 200mg/l.

[55 FR 11862, Mar. 29, 1990, as amended at 55 FR 22684, June 1, 1990; 55 FR 26987, June 29, 1990; 58 FR 46049, Aug. 31, 1993; 67 FR 11254, Mar. 13, 2002; 71 FR 40259, July 14, 2006]

Solid waste may be deemed hazardous if it exhibits one of these characteristics and should be properly disposed. At Elk, we have an expert team of waste disposal professionals to assist with all kinds of hazardous waste transportation and disposal needs in full compliance with local, state and federal regulations. Contact us today to learn how we can safely manage your hazardous waste!