Advances in Hazardous Industrial Waste Treatment

© 2009 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC

72307_C000.indd i 7/23/2008 7:10:55 PM

© 2009 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC

EDITED BY

LAWRENCE K. WANG

NAZIH K. SHAMMAS

YUNG-TSE HUNG

CRC Press is an imprint of the

Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business

Boca Raton London New York

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© 2009 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Advances in hazardous industrial waste treatment / edited by Lawrence K. Wang, Nazih K. Shammas,

Yung-Tse Hung.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN-13: 978-1-4200-7230-3

ISBN-10: 1-4200-7230-7

1. Factory and trade waste. 2. Hazardous waste. 3. Hazardous waste site remediation. I. Wang,

Lawrence K. II. Shammas, Nazih K. III. Hung, Yung-Tse. IV. Title.

TD897.A38 2008

628.4’2--dc22 2008008265

Visit the Taylor & Francis Web site at

http://www.taylorandfrancis.com

and the CRC Press Web site at

http://www.crcpress.com

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© 2009 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC

v

Contents

Preface ........................................................................................................................................ vii

About the Editors ...................................................................................................................... ix

Contributors .............................................................................................................................. xi

Chapter 1 Characteristics of Hazardous Industrial Waste .................................................... 1

Nazih K. Shammas

Chapter 2 Soil Remediation .................................................................................................. 35

Ioannis Paspaliaris, Nymphodora Papassiopi, Anthimos Xenidis,

and Yung-Tse Hung

Chapter 3 Remediation of Soils Contaminated with Metals ................................................ 87

Nazih K. Shammas

Chapter 4 Treatment of Wastes from Metal Finishing Industry ........................................... 139

Nazih K. Shammas and Lawrence K. Wang

Chapter 5 Leachate Treatment Using Bioremediation .......................................................... 175

Azni Idris, Katayon Saed, and Yung-Tse Hung

Chapter 6 Remediation of Sites Contaminated by Hazardous Wastes ................................. 193

Lawrence K. Wang, Nazih K. Shammas, Ping Wang, and Robert LaFleur

Chapter 7 Enzymatic Removal of Aqueous Pentachlorophenol ........................................... 273

Khim Hoong Chu, Eui Yong Kim, and Yung-Tse Hung

Chapter 8 Remediation of Sites Contaminated by Underground Storage

Tank Releases ....................................................................................................... 291

Lawrence K. Wang, Nazih K. Shammas, Ping Wang, and Nicholas L. Clesceri

Chapter 9 Biological Treatment Processes for Urea and Formaldehyde

Containing Wastewater ........................................................................................ 363

José Luis Campos Gómez, Anuska Mosquera Corral,

Ramón Méndez Pampín, and Yung-Tse Hung

Chapter 10 Hazardous Waste Deep-Well Injection ................................................................ 385

Nazih K. Shammas and Lawrence K. Wang

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© 2009 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC

vi Contents

Chapter 11 Waste Management in the Pulp and Paper Industry ............................................ 461

Nazih K. Shammas

Chapter 12 Treatment of Nickel-Chromium Plating Waste .................................................... 517

Nazih K. Shammas, Lawrence K. Wang, Donald B. Aulenbach,

and William A. Selke

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© 2009 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC

vii

Preface

Environmental managers, engineers, and scientists who have had experience with industrial and

hazardous waste management problems have noted the need for a handbook series that is compre￾hensive in its scope, directly applicable to daily waste management problems of specifi c industries,

and widely acceptable by practicing environmental professionals and educators.

Many standard industrial waste treatment and hazardous waste management texts adequately

cover a few major industries, for conventional in-plant pollution control strategies, but no one book,

or series of books, focuses on new developments in innovative and alternative cleaner production

technologies, waste minimization methodologies, environmental processes, design criteria, effluent

standards, performance standards, pretreatment standards, managerial decision methodology, and

regional and global environmental conservation.

The entire Industrial and Hazardous Wastes Treatment book series emphasizes in-depth

presentation of environmental pollution sources, waste characteristics, control technologies, manage￾ment strategies, facility innovations, process alternatives, costs, case histories, effluent standards,

and future trends for each industrial or commercial operation, such as the metal plating and finish￾ing industry or the photographic processing industry, and in-depth presentation of methodologies,

technologies, alternatives, regional effects, and global effects of each important industrial pollution

control practice that may be applied to all industries, such as industrial ecology, pollution prevention,

in-plant hazardous waste management, site remediation, groundwater decontamination, and storm￾water management.

In a deliberate effort to complement other industrial waste treatment and hazardous waste

management texts published by Taylor & Francis and CRC Press, this book, Advances in Hazardous

Industrial Waste Treatment, covers many new industries and new waste management topics, such as

characteristics of industrial hazardous wastes, soil remediation, treatment of metal finishing industry

wastes, leachate treatment using bioremediation, remediation of sites contaminated by hazardous

wastes, enzymatic removal of aqueous pentachlorophenol, remediation of sites contaminated by

underground storage tank releases, biological treatment of wastes containing urea and formalde￾hyde, hazardous waste deep-well injection, waste management in the pulp and paper industry, and

treatment of nickel-chromium plating waste, are presented in detail. Special efforts were made to

invite experts to contribute chapters in their own areas of expertise. Since the field of industrial

hazardous waste treatment is very broad, no one can claim to be an expert in all industries, and so

collective contributions are better than a single author’s presentation for a handbook of this nature.

This book is to be used as a college textbook as well as a reference book for the environmental

professional. It features the major metal manufacturing, forming, coating and finishing industries

and hazardous pollutants that have significant effects on the environment. Professors, students, and

researchers in environmental, civil, chemical, sanitary, mechanical, and public health engineering

and science will find valuable educational materials here. The extensive bibliographies for each

metal-related industrial waste treatment or practice should be invaluable to environmental managers

or researchers who need to trace, follow, duplicate, or improve on a specifi c industrial hazardous

waste treatment practice.

A successful modern industrial hazardous waste treatment program for a particular industry

will include not only traditional water pollution control but also air pollution control, noise control,

soil conservation, site remediation, radiation protection, groundwater protection, hazardous waste

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© 2009 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC

viii Preface

management, solid waste disposal, and combined industrial–municipal waste treatment and manage￾ment. In fact, it should be a total environmental control program. Another intention of this handbook

is to provide technical and economical information on the development of the most feasible total

environmental control program that can benefi t both industry and local municipalities. Frequently,

the most economically feasible methodology is a combined industrial–municipal waste treatment.

Lawrence K. Wang, New York

Nazih K. Shammas, Massachusetts

Yung-Tse Hung, Ohio

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© 2009 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC

ix

About the Editors

Lawrence K. Wang has over 25 years of experience in facility design, plant construction, opera￾tion, and management. He has expertise in water supply, air pollution control, solid waste disposal,

water resources, waste treatment, hazardous waste management and site remediation. He is a retired

dean/director of both the Lenox Institute of Water Technology and Krofta Engineering Corporation,

Lenox, Massachusetts, and a retired VP of Zorex Corporation, Newtonville, New York. Dr. Wang is

the author of over 700 papers and 17 books, and is credited with 24 U.S. patents and 5 foreign

patents. He received his BSCE degree from National Cheng-Kung University, Taiwan, ROC, his MS

degrees from both the University of Missouri at Rolla and the University of Rhode Island at

Kingston, and his PhD degree from Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey.

Nazih K. Shammas is an environmental expert, professor and consultant for over forty years.

He is an ex-dean and director of the Lenox Institute of Water Technology, and advisor to Krofta

Engineering Corporation, Lenox, Massachusetts. Dr. Shammas is the author of over 250 publica￾tions and eight books in the field of environmental engineering. He has experience in environmental

planning, curriculum development, teaching and scholarly research, and expertise in water quality

control, wastewater reclamation and reuse, physicochemical and biological treatment processes and

water and wastewater systems. He received his BE degree from the American University of Beirut,

Lebanon, his MS from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and his PhD from the

University of Michigan at Ann Arbor.

Yung-Tse Hung has been a professor of civil engineering at Cleveland State University since 1981.

He is a Fellow of the American Society of Civil Engineers. He has taught at 16 universities in

eight countries. His primary research interests and publications have been involved with biological

wastewater treatment, industrial water pollution control, industrial waste treatment, and municipal

wastewater treatment. He is now credited with over 450 publications and presentations on water and

wastewater treatment. Dr. Hung received his BSCE and MSCE degrees from National Cheng-Kung

University, Taiwan, and his PhD degree from the University of Texas at Austin. He is the editor of

International Journal of Environment and Waste Management, International Journal of

Environmental Engineering, and International Journal of Environmental Engineering Science.

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© 2009 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC

xi

Contributors

Donald B. Aulenbach

Lenox Institute of Water Technology

Lenox, Massachusetts

and

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Troy, New York

Khim Hoong Chu

Department of Chemical and

Process Engineering

University of Canterbury

Christchurch, New Zealand

Nicholas L. Clesceri

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Troy, New York

Anuska Mosquera Corral

Department of Chemical Engineering

School of Engineering

University of Santiago de Compostela

Santiago de Compostela, Spain

José Luis Campos Gómez

Department of Chemical Engineering

School of Engineering

University of Santiago de Compostela

Santiago de Compostela, Spain

Yung-Tse Hung

Department of Civil and Environmental

Engineering

Cleveland State University

Cleveland, Ohio

Azni Idris

Department of Chemical and Environmental

Engineering

Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang

Selangor, Malaysia

Eui Yong Kim

Department of Chemical Engineering

University of Seoul

Seoul, Korea

Robert LaFleur

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Troy, New York

Ramón Méndez Pampin

Department of Chemical Engineering

School of Engineering

University of Santiago de Compostela

Santiago de Compostela, Spain

Nymphodora Papassiopi

School of Mining Engineering and Metallurgy

National Technical University of Athens

Athens, Greece

Ioannis Paspaliaris

School of Mining Engineering and Metallurgy

National Technical University of Athens

Athens, Greece

Katayon Saed

Building and Environmental Division

School of Engineering

Ngee Ann Polytechnic

Singapore

William A. Selke

Lenox Institute of Water Technology and

Krofta Engineering Corporation

Lenox, Massachusetts

Nazih K. Shammas

Lenox Institute of Water Technology and

Krofta Engineering Corporation

Lenox, Massachusetts

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© 2009 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC

xii Contributors

Lawrence K. Wang

Lenox Institute of Water Technology and

Krofta Engineering Corporation

Lenox, Massachusetts

and

Zorex Corporation

Newtonville, New York

Ping Wang

Center of Environmental Sciences

University of Maryland

Annapolis, Maryland

Anthimos Xenidis

School of Mining Engineering and

Metallurgy

National Technical University of Athens

Athens, Greece

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© 2009 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC

1

1 Characteristics of Hazardous

Industrial Waste

Nazih K. Shammas

CONTENTS

1.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

1.2 Hazardous Waste Identification Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

1.3 Exclusions from Solid and Hazardous Wastes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

1.3.1 Recycled Materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

1.3.2 Secondary Materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

1.3.3 Sham Recycling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

1.3.4 Exemptions from Hazardous Wastes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

1.4 Definition of Hazardous Waste . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

1.4.1 Hazardous Waste Listings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

1.4.2 Hazardous Waste Characteristics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

1.4.3 Listed Hazardous Wastes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

1.4.4 Listing Criteria . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

1.4.5 The F List: Wastes from Nonspecific Sources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

1.4.6 The K List: Wastes from Specific Sources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

1.4.7 The P and U Lists: Discarded Commercial Chemical Products . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

1.5 Characteristic Hazardous Wastes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

1.5.1 Ignitability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

1.5.2 Corrosivity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

1.5.3 Reactivity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

1.5.4 Toxicity Characteristics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

1.6 Wastes Listed Solely for Exhibiting the Characteristic of Ignitability,

Corrosivity, or Reactivity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

1.7 The Mixture and Derived-from Rules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

1.7.1 Background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

1.7.2 Listed Hazardous Wastes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

1.7.3 Characteristic Wastes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

1.7.4 Waste Listed Solely for Exhibiting the Characteristic of Ignitability,

Corrosivity, or Reactivity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

1.7.5 Mixture Rule Exemptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

1.7.6 Derived-from Rule Exemptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

1.7.7 Delisting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

1.8 The Contained-in Policy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

1.9 Regulatory Developments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

1.9.1 The Hazardous Waste Identification Rules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

1.9.2 Final Hazardous Waste Listing Determinations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

1.9.3 Proposed Revision to Wastewater Treatment Exemption for

Hazardous Waste Mixtures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

© 2009 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC

2 Advances in Hazardous Industrial Waste Treatment

1.1 INTRODUCTION

The improper management of hazardous waste poses a serious threat to both the health of people

and the environment. When the United States Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) began

developing the hazardous waste management regulations in the late 1970s, the Agency estimated

that only 10% of all hazardous waste was managed in an environmentally sound manner.

Proper identification of a hazardous waste can be a difficult and confusing task, as the Resource

Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) regulations establish a complex definition of the term

“hazardous waste.” To help make sense of what is and is not a hazardous waste, this chapter presents

the steps involved in the process of identifying, or “characterizing,” a hazardous waste.

This chapter will introduce the entire hazardous waste identification process, but will focus

particularly on the final steps and the characteristics and properties of hazardous wastes. After read￾ing this chapter, one will be able to understand the hazardous waste identification process and the

definition of hazardous waste, and be familiar with the following concepts:

1. Hazardous waste listings

2. Hazardous waste characteristics

3. The “mixture” and “derived-from” rules

4. The “contained-in” policy

5. The Hazardous Waste Identification Rules (HWIR)

1.2 HAZARDOUS WASTE IDENTIFICATION PROCESS

A hazardous waste is a waste with a chemical composition or other properties that make it capable

of causing illness, death, or some other harm to humans and other life forms when mismanaged or

released into the environment.1 Developing a regulatory program that ensures the safe handling of

such dangerous wastes, however, demands a far more precise definition of the term. U.S. EPA there￾fore created a series of hazardous waste identification regulations, which outline the process to

determine whether any particular material is a hazardous waste for the purposes of RCRA.

Proper hazardous waste identification is essential to the success of the hazardous waste

management program. The RCRA regulations require that any person who produces or generates a

waste must determine if that waste is hazardous. For this purpose, the RCRA includes the following

steps in the hazardous waste identification process2:

1. Is the waste a “solid waste”?

2. Is the waste specifically excluded from the RCRA regulations?

3. Is the waste a “listed” hazardous waste?

4. Does the waste exhibit a characteristic of hazardous waste?

Hazardous waste identification begins with an obvious point: in order for any material to be a

hazardous waste, it must first be a waste. However, deciding whether an item is or is not a waste is

not always easy. For example, a material (like an aluminum can) that one person discards could

seem valuable to another person who recycles that material. U.S. EPA therefore developed a set of

regulations to assist in determining whether a material is a waste. RCRA uses the term “solid waste”

in place of the common term “waste.” Under RCRA, the term “solid waste” means any waste,

whether it is a solid, semisolid, or liquid. The first section of the RCRA hazardous waste identifi￾cation regulations focuses on the definition of solid waste. For this chapter, you need only understand

in general terms the role that the definition of solid waste plays in the RCRA hazardous waste

identification process.

Only a small fraction of all RCRA solid wastes actually qualify as hazardous wastes. According

to U.S. EPA estimates, of the 12 billion tons (metric) of industrial, agricultural, commercial, and

© 2009 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC

Characteristics of Hazardous Industrial Waste 3

household wastes generated annually, 254 million tons (2%) are hazardous, as defined by RCRA

regulations.3 At first glance, one would imagine that distinguishing between hazardous and non￾hazardous wastes is a simple matter of chemical and toxicological analysis. Other factors must be

considered, however, before evaluating the actual hazard posed by a waste’s chemical composition.

Regulation of certain wastes may be impractical, unfair, or otherwise undesirable, regardless of

the hazards they pose. For instance, household waste can contain dangerous chemicals, such as

solvents and pesticides, but making households subject to the strict RCRA waste management

regulations would create a number of practical problems. Congress and U.S. EPA have exempted

or excluded certain wastes, including household wastes, from the hazardous waste definition and

regulations. Determining whether or not a waste is excluded or exempted from hazardous waste

regulation is the second step in the RCRA hazardous waste identification process. Only after

determining that a solid waste is not somehow excluded from hazardous waste regulation should

the analysis proceed to evaluate the actual chemical hazard of a waste.

The final steps in the hazardous waste identification process determine whether a waste poses a

sufficient chemical or physical hazard to merit regulation. These steps in the hazardous waste

identification process involve evaluating the waste in light of the regulatory definition of hazardous

waste. The remainder of this chapter explains the definition, characteristics, and properties of

hazardous wastes.

1.3 EXCLUSIONS FROM SOLID AND HAZARDOUS WASTES

The statutory definition points out that whether a material is a solid waste is not based on the

physical form of the material (i.e., whether or not it is a solid as opposed to a liquid or gas), but rather

that the material is a waste. The regulations further define solid waste as any material that is

discarded by being either abandoned, inherently waste-like, a certain military munition, or recycled

(Figure 1.1). These terms are defined as follows:

1. Abandoned. This simply means “thrown away.” A material is abandoned if it is disposed

of, burned, or incinerated.

2. Inherently waste-like. Some materials pose such a threat to human health and the

environment that they are always considered solid wastes; these materials are considered to

be inherently waste-like. Examples of inherently waste-like materials include certain

dioxin-containing wastes.

FIGURE 1.1 Determination of whether a waste is a solid waste. Source: U.S. EPA, Resource Conservation and

Recovery Act—Orientation Manual, Report EPA 530-R-02-016, U.S. EPA, Washington, DC, January 2003.

Is material discarded by being either

No

Yes

Material is a solid waste

and may be a hazardous

waste subject to RCRA

Subtitle C regulation

Material is not a

solid waste and is

not subject to

RCRA Subtitle C

regulation

• Abandoned?

• Inherently waste-like?

• A discarded military munition?

• Recycled?

© 2009 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC

4 Advances in Hazardous Industrial Waste Treatment

3. Military munitions. Military munitions are all ammunition products and components

produced for or used by the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) or U.S. Armed Services

for national defense and security. Unused or defective munitions are solid wastes when

abandoned (i.e., disposed of, burned, incinerated) or treated prior to disposal; rendered

nonrecyclable or nonuseable through deterioration; or declared a waste by an authorized

military official. Used (i.e., fired or detonated) munitions may also be solid wastes if

collected for storage, recycling, treatment, or disposal.

4. Recycled. A material is recycled if it is used or reused (e.g., as an ingredient in a process),

reclaimed, or used in certain ways (used in a manner constituting disposal, burned for

energy recovery, or accumulated speculatively).

1.3.1 RECYCLED MATERIALS

Materials that are recycled are a special subset of the solid waste universe. When recycled, some

materials are not solid wastes, and therefore not hazardous wastes, but others are solid and hazard￾ous waste, but are subject to less-stringent regulatory controls. The level of regulation that applies to

recycled materials depends on the material and the type of recycling (Figure 1.2). Because some

types of recycling pose threats to human health and the environment, RCRA does not exempt all

recycled materials from the definition of solid waste. As a result, the manner in which a material is

recycled will determine whether or not the material is a solid waste, and therefore whether it is

FIGURE 1.2 Determination of whether recycled wastes are hazardous wastes. Source: U.S. EPA, Resource

Conservation and Recovery Act—Orientation Manual, Report EPA 530-R-02-016, U.S. EPA, Washington,

DC, January 2003.

Is waste recycled by being

Is recycled waste

Waste is not a solid waste

Waste is a solid waste

No

No

Yes

Yes

Yes

Is waste reclaimed?

• Used as an ingredient?

• Used in a manner constituting disposal?

• Spent material

Facility must determine if waste is a

• Sludge

• Byproduct

• Commercial chemical product

• Scrap metal

• Burned for energy recovery, used to

produce a fuel, or contained in fuels?

• Accumulated speculatively?

• A dioxin-containing waste considered

inherently waste-like?

• Used as a product substitute?

• Returned to the production process?