xvEPA
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
October 2008
EPA530-F-08-006
www.epa.gov/waste
Modification to the Definition of
Solid Waste Aims To Increase
Recycling
EPA is streamlining its regulation of hazardous secondary materials to encourage
beneficial recycling via reclamation and help conserve resources. By doing so, recycling
these materials will not only be safe, but also less costly and more efficient.
Action
In October 2003, EPA proposed a regulatory exclusion from the definition of solid
waste which would streamline requirements for the recycling of hazardous secondary
materials. After evaluating public comments and conducting independent analyses,
the Agency published a supplemental proposal in March 2007. This rule finalizes the
March 2007 supplemental proposal by establishing streamlined requirements for the
following:
• Materials that are generated and legitimately reclaimed under the control of
the generator (i.e., generated and reclaimed on-site, by the same company, or under
"tolling" agreements);
• Materials that are generated and transferred to another company for legitimate
reclamation under specific conditions; and,
• Materials that EPA or an authorized state determines to be non-wastes through
a case-by-case petition process.
The rule also contains a provision to determine which recycling activities are
legitimate under the new exclusions and non-waste determinations. This provision
ensures that only authentic recycling, and not treatment or disposal under the guise
of recycling, receives the benefits of these streamlined regulations. In order to be
legitimately recycled under these exclusions, the hazardous secondary material (1)
must provide a useful contribution to the recycling process; and (2) the recycling
must make a valuable new intermediate or final product. Two additional factors
must also be taken into account: (1) whether the recycled material is managed as a
valuable product; and (2) whether the recycled product contains toxic constituents at
significantly greater levels than a non-recycled product made from virgin materials.
These exclusions are not available for materials that are: (1) considered inherently
waste-like; (2) used in a manner constituting disposal; or (3) burned for energy
recovery.
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The restrictions for the exclusions in this final rule are substantially similar to
those contained in the supplemental proposal published on March 26, 2007 (72 FR
14172) with certain modifications regarding:
• Reporting and recordkeeping;
• Reasonable efforts required of generators to ensure that their hazardous
secondary materials are safely and legitimately recycled;
• Intermediate facilities storing hazardous secondary materials for more than 10
days are eligible under the transfer-based exclusion; and
• Tailoring the financial assurance requirements to intermediate facilities and
reclaimers of hazardous secondary materials.
The Agency estimates that about 5,600 facilities handling approximately 1.5
million tons of hazardous secondary materials annually may be affected by this
proposed rule. The activities most affected are metals and solvent recycling. This
action is expected to result in cost savings of approximately $95 million per year for
all affected industry sectors.
For More Information
More information about the Definition of Solid Waste:
http://www.epa.gov/epawaste/hazard/dsw/index.htm. To find out more detailed
information or to ask a question, please go to http://waste.custhelp.com and click on
Find an Answer or Ask a Question.
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