Documents & codes
What is waste classification?
Waste classification is the process of determining what a waste is, which List of Waste code applies, and whether it is hazardous — based on its origin, composition and hazardous properties.
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<img src="https://wasteoptix.co.uk/glossary/waste-classification/diagram.svg" alt="waste classification — diagram from WasteOptix" width="880" height="620" loading="lazy">
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<a href="https://wasteoptix.co.uk/glossary/waste-classification">What is waste classification?</a> — diagram by
<a href="https://wasteoptix.co.uk">WasteOptix</a>
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</figure>It is an assessment rather than a lookup. Establishing the origin, identifying the substances present and deciding whether any hazardous property applies at the relevant threshold is work, and for some streams it requires testing.
It is the producer's responsibility. A carrier can query a description that looks wrong, and should, but the classification belongs to the person who made the waste and knows the process it came from.
Getting it wrong propagates. Every document, routing decision and disposal choice downstream rests on the classification, so an error at this point is not contained at this point.
What goes wrong in practice
- Classifying by appearance rather than by origin and composition.
- No testing where the composition is genuinely unknown, with a best guess recorded as fact.
- A producer leaving classification to the carrier, who has less information than they do.