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Hazardous waste, including hazardous recyclable material
Hazardous wastes are those wastes, including recyclable materials, which, due to their nature or quantity, are potentially hazardous to human health or the environment and which require special disposal techniques to eliminate or reduce the hazard. They have characteristics such as toxicity, flammability, corrosivity, and thus can have a wide range of potential impacts due to these hazards, and at times, due to their tendency to persist in the natural environment. Some of the more common hazardous wastes are spent acids and caustic, "still bottoms", the leftovers from oil refining and the manufacture of chemicals. Hazardous wastes and recyclable materials often contain phenols, arsenic, mercury, lead and a large number of other toxic chemicals.
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Note: This is not a legal definition for hazardous waste, but is designed to assist the public to better understand the nature of hazardous waste. Under the new CEPA 1999, the legal definition for "hazardous waste" is set out in the Export and Import of Hazardous Waste Regulations.
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