Key Terms

Abandoned material is considered by the RCRA to be any material that is disposed of, burned, incinerated, or sham recycled.

Characteristic waste refers to solid waste that exhibits one of the following four characteristics: corrosivity, ignitability, toxicity, or reactivity.

Corrosivity is one of the four characteristics of hazardous waste. A material is said to have the corrosive characteristic if it is particularly acidic or basic, or if it can dissolve steel at a rate of 6.35 millimeters per year.

Hazardous materials are substances (gas, liquids, or solids) that may harm people or the environment (for example, chlorine gas, solvents, pigments, or lead).

Hazardous waste refers generally to waste that has properties that may harm people or the environment. We will discuss how the RCRA regulations specifically determine what constitutes hazardous waste.

Flash point is the temperature at which vapors from a fluid will ignite if provided with an ignition source.

Ignitability is one of the four characteristics of hazardous waste. A material is said to have the ignitable characteristic if it is a liquid and has a flash point below 140 degrees Fahrenheit, or if it is a solid and can cause fire through friction, absorption of liquid, or spontaneous chemical change.

Inherently waste-like is a category of materials that are so toxic they are always considered to be solid wastes.

Listed wastes are wastes that meet the specific criteria to be on one of the four Environmental Protection Agency \(EPA) lists: The F-, K-, P-, and U- lists. These listings can be found in the regulations at 40 CFR 261 Subpart D.

Reactivity is one of the four characteristics of hazardous waste. A material is said to have the reactive characteristic if it is unstable, reacts violently with water, or is capable of detonation, among a few other criteria.

Sham recycling refers to the illegal practice of accepting materials that contain hazardous materials under the pretense of recycling them. Material destined to be recycled is not considered to be solid wastes, so it is not regulated under the more stringent hazardous waste regulations.

Solid waste is material that, relative to RCRA regulations, has been discarded by being any of the following: abandoned (for example, disposed of, burned, incinerated, or sham recycled), inherently waste-like, military munition, or recycled. Solid wastes may be solid, semisolid, liquid, or contained gaseous material.

Toxicity is one of the four characteristics of hazardous waste. A material is said to have the toxic characteristic if a dangerous amount of it can leach into the groundwater.

Universal wastes are commonly recycled hazardous wastes that are generated by many different people in many different settings. The RCRA established special provisions for their handling to encourage recycling. The four categories of universal wastes are batteries, recalled or unused pesticides, mercury-containing equipment (such as thermostats), and lamps (such as fluorescent bulbs).

To learn more about RCRA visit our RCRA Hazardous Waste Safety Online Training web page.