Hazardous waste is any waste that is harmful to human health or the environment. In the United Kingdom the definition comes from the Hazardous Waste Regulations and the List of Waste, which assigns every waste stream a six digit code. Codes marked with an asterisk are hazardous, and once your waste carries one of those codes a set of legal duties applies to your business.
The properties that make waste hazardous
A waste is hazardous when it displays one or more hazardous properties, coded HP1 to HP15. In practice the ones we see most often on commercial sites are flammability, corrosivity, toxicity, irritancy and ecotoxicity. Solvent based cleaners, acids and alkalis, waste fuels, laboratory reagents, paints and many workshop consumables all fall into at least one of those groups.
Some wastes are hazardous whatever their concentration, such as asbestos or waste oil. Others are hazardous only above a threshold, which is why a chemical analysis or a safety data sheet matters. If you are unsure, the safety data sheet supplied with the original product is the fastest route to a correct classification, and it is the first document our experts ask for when quoting chemical waste disposal.
Common hazardous wastes on commercial sites
Most sites produce more hazardous waste than they realise. Typical examples include:
Waste oils and lubricants from workshops and plant, which we handle through our waste oil disposal service.
Contaminated petrol, diesel and kerosene from tanks and misfuelled vehicles, covered by fuel, petrol and diesel disposal.
Solvents, thinners and cleaning chemicals, collected under solvent disposal.
Laboratory reagents, small pack chemicals and unknowns, handled by our laboratory chemical disposal team.
Paints, resins, adhesives and aerosols, collected through paint and aerosol disposal.
Empty containers that held hazardous substances, which remain hazardous until they are cleaned and are collected as COSHH containers.
Classifying your waste correctly
Classification is the producer's responsibility, not the carrier's. You need to identify the waste, assign a List of Waste code and describe it accurately on the paperwork. Getting this wrong is one of the most common reasons a load is rejected at a treatment facility, and rejected loads cost money and time.
Three things make classification straightforward. Keep safety data sheets for every substance held on site. Label containers as soon as waste goes into them, not at the point of collection. Keep waste streams separate, because a small volume of hazardous material can make a large volume of non hazardous waste hazardous.
Mixing and segregation
You must not mix different categories of hazardous waste, or mix hazardous waste with non hazardous waste, unless you hold a permit that allows it. Beyond the legal position it is simply expensive: mixed loads are treated at the cost of the most difficult component. Good segregation and sensible storage are covered in our guide to storing hazardous waste safely on site.
The paperwork that follows
Once a waste is hazardous, every movement off site needs a consignment note, and you must keep the returned copies. The detail, including who fills in which part, is set out in do I need a hazardous waste consignment note. Your wider legal obligations, from production through to final treatment, are explained in Duty of Care for waste producers.
Getting help with an unknown
Unknown containers are common, particularly on older sites or after a change of tenant. Do not open, decant or attempt to identify them yourself. Photograph the container and any label, note where it is stored and send the images to us. In most cases we can classify from the photograph, and where we cannot, we arrange sampling and analysis before collection.
What to do next
If you produce any of the wastes listed above, the practical steps are the same: identify what you hold, segregate it, store it safely and book a compliant collection. Our experts will confirm the codes, quote the removal and return the paperwork. See the full range of hazardous waste services, or send us the details and we will price it.