Hazardous Waste Determination Flowchart

Walk through the RCRA waste determination process step by step. Answer five questions about your material and get a clear determination with applicable waste codes and next steps under 40 CFR 262.11.

Step 1 of 5
Is the material a solid waste under RCRA?
40 CFR 261.2 Definition of Solid Waste
A material is a solid waste if it is any of these:
  • Abandoned (disposed of, burned, incinerated, or stored prior to disposal)
  • Recycled in certain ways (used in a manner constituting disposal, burned for energy recovery, reclaimed, or accumulated speculatively)
  • Inherently waste-like (certain dioxin-containing wastes, some secondary materials)
  • A military munition that has become a solid waste per 40 CFR 266.202
Not a solid waste: domestic sewage, NPDES permitted discharges, irrigation return flows, source/byproduct/special nuclear material under AEA, in situ mining materials, certain recycled materials used as ingredients or returned to original process.
Step 2 of 5
Is the material excluded from the hazardous waste regulations?
40 CFR 261.4 Exclusions
Common exclusions:
  • Household hazardous waste (from households, not businesses)
  • Agricultural waste used as fertilizer (returned to the soil)
  • Mining overburden returned to the mine site
  • Fossil fuel combustion waste (fly ash, bottom ash, flue gas emission control waste)
  • Oil and gas exploration and production waste (drilling fluids, produced waters)
  • Trivalent chromium wastes from specific industries
  • Used oil that is recycled (follow 40 CFR 279)
  • Scrap metal being recycled
  • Petroleum-contaminated media from leaking UST cleanup
  • Spent wood preservatives returned to process
  • Certain pharmaceutical wastes under Subpart P
  • Solvent-contaminated wipes under 40 CFR 261.4(b)(18)
Step 3 of 5
Is the waste a listed hazardous waste?
40 CFR 261.31-261.33 F, K, P, U lists
The four listed waste types:
  • F-list (261.31): non-specific source wastes. Common examples: F001-F005 spent solvents, F006 electroplating sludges, F019 automotive phosphate coating waste.
  • K-list (261.32): specific industrial source wastes. Common examples: K001 wood preserving sludge, K048-K052 petroleum refining wastes.
  • P-list (261.33(e)): acutely hazardous commercial chemicals. Includes unused pesticides, pharmaceuticals, and highly toxic commercial products. Must be in commercial chemical product form (off-spec, discarded, or residue). Examples: P001 warfarin, P015 beryllium, P030 soluble cyanide salts.
  • U-list (261.33(f)): toxic commercial chemicals. Same commercial-chemical-product requirement as P-list. Examples: U002 acetone, U044 chloroform, U154 methanol.
Use our RCRA Waste Code Lookup tool to search by chemical name or CAS.
Step 4 of 5
Does the waste exhibit any hazardous characteristic?
40 CFR 261.20-261.24
Select any characteristics the waste exhibits. A waste can exhibit more than one. If you select none and continue, the waste is not characteristic hazardous.

Ignitability D001

Flash point below 140 degrees F (liquids), spontaneously combusts, or is a compressed gas/oxidizer.

Examples: gasoline, many solvents, certain paint wastes

Corrosivity D002

pH of 2 or less, pH of 12.5 or more, or corrodes steel at more than 6.35 mm/year at 55 C.

Examples: acid rinses, caustic cleaners, battery acid

Reactivity D003

Unstable, reacts violently with water, generates toxic gas, explosive, or is a cyanide/sulfide waste that can release gas.

Examples: alkali metals, cyanide salts, peroxides, old lab chemicals

Toxicity D004-D043

TCLP (Toxicity Characteristic Leaching Procedure) exceeds regulatory limit for 40 listed contaminants including heavy metals, pesticides, and organics.

Examples: lead paint debris, mercury devices, chlorinated solvent residue

Step 5 of 5
Does your state list this waste as hazardous?
Authorized state RCRA programs
Some states regulate wastes beyond federal RCRA. Examples:
  • California: hundreds of non-RCRA hazardous wastes under Title 22 (metallic asbestos, certain used oils, silver-bearing photo waste, others)
  • Washington: state-only dangerous waste codes (WT01, WT02, WP01-WP03) based on persistence and toxicity
  • Massachusetts: waste oil, antifreeze, and certain refrigerants
  • Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Rhode Island: have various state-specific listings
Check with your state environmental agency if you are unsure.

Your Determination Summary

Next Steps

About This Determination

What this tool does

This flowchart walks you through the RCRA hazardous waste determination process in 40 CFR 262.11. Your answers produce a working determination, not a final regulatory conclusion. The EPA allows generators to use knowledge of the material, process records, SDS information, and laboratory testing to make determinations. Document your answers and supporting information.

When to use laboratory testing

Generator knowledge is defensible when you have full information about the process that generated the waste. When you are unsure about a characteristic, test. TCLP (SW-846 Method 1311) costs $300-800 per sample and gives you toxicity characteristic results for the 40 D-code contaminants. Flash point (Pensky-Martens or Setaflash) runs $75-150. pH is $25-50. Reactive sulfide and cyanide are reportable at 500 and 250 mg/kg respectively.

Who is responsible

Under 40 CFR 262.11, the generator is responsible for the determination. You can rely on an environmental consultant or TSDF profile, but the regulatory liability stays with the generator. Keep determination records for at least three years (longer if required by your state).

The "contained-in" policy

When environmental media (soil, groundwater, debris) is contaminated with listed hazardous waste, the media contains the listed waste and must be managed as hazardous until EPA or your state determines contamination is below levels of concern. This is why Phase II site assessments and remediation waste management are so tightly scrutinized.

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