PROPOSED NONHAZARDOUS-INDUSTRIAL-WASTE CLASSIFICATION SCHEME

The lack of federal guidelines covering disposal of nonhazardous indus trial waste (NHIW) has resulted in highly variable and inconsistent st ate programs for regulating this largest portion of the nation's solid -waste stream. Most states do not have regulations specifically addres sing NHIW; the result being a growing backlog of disposal requests tha t have to be considered on a case-by-case basis, wasting time and mone y. NHIW poses potential threats to human health and the environment if disposed of as a solid waste; NHIW,unnecessarily disposed of as hazar dous wastes requires excessive monetary resources. Because of the larg e quantity of NHIW currently being generated and improperly classified and disposed, this study was directed at developing a comprehensive a nd usable method for characterizing NHIW. The classification scheme de scribed herein is designed to characterize NHIW based on realistically available information. However, some considerations within the scheme may require NHIW generators to provide realistically obtainable infor mation beyond current requirements.