Identifying hazardous waste

As a manufacturer, you should already be aware of the fact that you must dispose of your hazardous waste in a proper manner. If you fail to properly dispose of any hazardous waste, your manufacturing business can be fined a large amount of money. Getting g rid of hazardous waste properly is important because of the harmful effects that hazardous waste has on the environment and some of it can be harmful to people's health.

In order to properly dispose of hazardous waste the first thing that you are going to need to do is to learn how to identify hazardous waste. This is important because something that you would not feel is hazardous can be classified as hazardous waste. There is more to hazardous waste than just what you think makes up hazardous waste. In order for something to be classified as hazardous waste, it is going to need to meet the federal government's Environmental Protection Agency's definition of solid waste, which is:

• Any solid, liquid, or contained gaseous material that your business is no longer using, and is recycled, thrown away, or stored until your business has collected enough of it to treat it or dispose of it properly.


• Once the waste has met the definition of a solid waste, which things besides hazardous waste can be considered solid waste, in order for it to be considered a hazardous waste it must be considered a listed or characteristic waste. To be a listed waste it will be included on one of the four lists of hazardous wastes; the lists are located in the Federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act regulations. To be considered a characteristic waste the solid waste will need to be defined as ignitable, corrosive, reactive, or toxic.

Identifying the hazardous waste that is considered listed is easy enough to do because all you have to do is some basic research to find out if a particular item is listed as hazardous or not. In general, an item is listed as a hazardous material if it has been shown to be harmful to people's health and if it has been shown t cause, any type of harm to the environment. These harmful effects are shown from people not handling the waste properly. When looking for the over 400 wastes that are listed on one of the four federal lists, that does not mean it is still not considered hazardous. You will also need to check your State's hazardous waste list.

If you are still unsure about whether or not something is considered a hazardous waste, and you have checked both the federal and state hazardous waste lists, you will still need to do some further research. The reason for this is that in some cases, waste is considered a hazardous waste if it meets certain characteristics. If the waste is considered flammable or easily combustible, it is considered a hazardous waste. Examples of this would be gasoline, paint, and solvents. Solid waste that is considered corrosive, meaning it can eat through metal and other materials, or solid waste that has a low or high pH, are also considered hazardous. Examples of these would include alkaline or lime based floor cleaners and battery acid. If the solid waste is considered reactive, which means it emits toxic fumes, gases, or vapors when mixed with water or other items, such as cyanides. Any solid waste that is harmful or fatal when it is ingested or absorbed is considered hazardous. The solid waste is also considered hazardous if it is absorbed into the soil or ground water when the solid waste is disposed of in the ground. This type of hazardous waste is known as toxic waste, which most types of hazardous waste fit this category.

As a responsible manufacturer, you will need to determine if your manufacturing plant is producing any kind of hazardous waste based on the definition of hazardous waste. If you have identified any hazardous waste that your manufacturing plant is producing, ensure that you are properly disposing of it.