Types of Hazardous Waste

Minnesota Hazardous Waste Rules require that anyone who produces or manages a waste closely examine the waste's properties to determine whether or not it is hazardous.

To decide if your business produces hazardous waste, you should:

1. Gather information about the wastes your business produces. Talk to purchasing, production and maintenance personnel, tour production and non-production areas, inspect storage areas and dumpsters. Don't forget to include sewered and recycled wastes.
2. Evaluate waste. The evaluation process includes checking to see if any of the wastes are exempt from the hazardous waste rules, listed in the hazardous waste rules or display any hazardous characteristics. You may need to have the waste tested.

If your business generates hazardous waste, you must obtain a hazardous waste generator license.

Listed hazardous wastes either contain PCBs above 50 ppm or appear on one of the four specific lists (F, K, P, or U) found in the Minnesota Hazardous Waste Rules:

PCBs

PCBs - are classified as non-PCB (contains less than 50 ppm PCBs), PCB-contaminated (contains PCBs at 50 ppm or more, but less than 500 ppm) or PCB (contains PCBs at 500 ppm or greater). In Minnesota, a waste that is either PCB-contaminated or a PCB has a waste code of MN03.

F list

F list - includes waste solvents, wastewater treatment sludges and electroplating baths, sludges, and related wastes. Examples of F listed wastes include many paint and lacquer thinners, some types of brake and carburetor cleaners, vapor degreasing and dry cleaning solvents, as well as distillation bottoms.

K list

K list - includes wastes that are the result of a specific industry process such as wood preserving, the manufacture of pesticides, explosives, inks, organic or inorganic chemicals and inorganic pigments, petroleum refining, and iron and steel industries.

P list and U list

P list and U list - check these lists if you are disposing of unused or usable chemical products or spill residues. To be P or U listed, the P or U chemical must comprise 100 percent of the waste or be the sole active ingredient of the product.

Characteristic Hazardous Wastes exhibit one or more of the following characteristics:

Ignitable

• Ignitable wastes (D001) have flash points of less than 140° Fahrenheit or ignite spontaneously and burn vigorously.
• The Safety Data Sheet (SDS) will give the flash point of the product. This will likely be close to the flash point of the waste unless the waste is contaminated with materials that have a very low flash point, such as gasoline.
• Examples: mineral spirits, many petroleum based parts washer solvents, alcohols, etc.

Oxidizer

• Oxidizing wastes (D001) supply oxygen to a fire in the absence of air.
• The SDS will usually tell you whether the product is an oxidizer.
• Examples: oxides, permanganates, nitrates, etc.

Corrosive 

• Corrosive wastes (D002) are liquids with a pH of 2.0 or less, 12.5 or more, or are able to corrode steel at a rate greater than 1/4 inch per year.
• The SDS will often give the pH of the product. Diluting the product prior to use or the actual use of the product may change the pH enough so the waste is non-hazardous. Some corrosive wastes may be able to be neutralized and discharged to a sanitary sewer. Check with the Metropolitan Council Environmental Services (MCES) for details.
• Examples: strong acids and bases.

Reactive

• Reactive wastes (D003) are wastes that are unstable, react violently or form potentially explosive mixtures when mixed with water, or can produce toxic gases.
• The reactivity hazard data section of the SDS may indicate the product is hazardous.
• Examples: explosives and some cyanide bearing wastes.

Toxic 

• A toxic hazardous waste will leach any one of the 40 contaminants at a concentration greater than the threshold given in Minn. Rules 7045.0131, Subp. 8. The hazardous waste code is based on the leachable contaminants
• Waste codes range from D004 - D043.
• Examples: used parts washer solvent, fluorescent lamps, or paints containing heavy metal pigments. 

Lethal

• Lethal wastes (MN01) are wastes that can cause severe health effects when ingested, inhaled or absorbed through the skin.
• The health hazard data section of the SDS may provide information that could help you determine if a waste might be lethal.
• Examples: some pesticide or arsenic wastes. 

While not a regulatory designation, small amounts of unrelated but compatible chemicals may be packaged for shipment in a common container. This in known as a lab pack.

• The generic waste code for a lab pack is MN02.
• In addition to the MN02 waste code, when shipping your waste, enter any non-redundant waste codes, up to a maximum of five, on the hazardous waste manifest.