Appendix. C Glossary of Waste Types.

Agricultural Waste
Waste and by-products arising on farms consisting of organic matter such as manure, slurry, silage effluent and crop residues and non-organic materials. Agricultural waste is non-controlled waste.

Biodegradable Waste
Waste that is capable of breaking down, such as food, garden waste and paper. This process can produce landfill gas and leachate as by-products.

Clinical Waste
Waste arising from medical, nursing, dental, veterinary, pharmaceutical or similar practices which may prove hazardous.

Commercial/Industrial Waste
Controlled waste arising from factories, industrial plants, wholesalers, catering establishments, shops and offices.

Construction and Demolition Waste
Controlled waste arising from construction and demolition. The majority of this waste is bulky and inert. There is potential for using recycled construction and demolition waste as a substitute for primary aggregates.

Controlled Waste
All waste which requires a waste management licence for its treatment or disposal.

Green Waste
Includes vegetation and plant matter from household gardens, local authority parks and gardens and commercial landscape gardens.

Hazardous Waste
(See Special Waste)

Household Waste
Waste which local authorities have a duty to collect from households. Also included is waste which householders themselves take to HWRC’s and Bring systems.

Inert Waste
Waste material that when disposed does not undergo any significant physical, chemical or biological transformation; does not adversely affect other matter with which it comes into contact in a way likely to give rise to environmental pollution or harm to human health; and does not endanger the quality of any surface water or groundwater e.g. glass, rubble and concrete.

Municipal Solid Waste (MSW)
Household waste and any other wastes collected by a Waste Collection Authority, or its agents, such as municipal parks and gardens waste, beach cleansing waste, commercial or industrial waste, and waste resulting from the clearance of fly-tipped materials.

Mine and quarry wastes
Overburden, rock and residues from initial processing of the extracted material. Extraction and processing waste may include waste rock and sandy debris or fined grained materials. These materials are non hazardous and mostly chemically inert. They are often largely identical to the geological deposits in the locality from which they are extracted. Waste from mines and quarries is non-controlled waste.

Metals
Scrap metal is derived from two main sources: New Scrap is derived from metal processing, such as off cuts, stampings etc.; Old Scrap is derived from end of life or obsolete products, this includes ‘heavy scrap’ from dismantling industrial plant, and ‘light scrap’ from the processing of consumer goods.

Non-Hazardous Waste
Waste which is neither inert nor classed as Special and does not fall within the hazardous waste classification.

Putrescible Waste
Waste which is able to decompose upon contact with oxygen, e.g. kitchen scraps.

Sewage Sludge
The solid material that is produced after waste has been treated at a sewage treatment works. The treatment consists of one of the following: dewatering; thickening; digestion or thermal drying.

Special Waste
Often referred to as hazardous or toxic waste as defined in the Special Waste Regulations (as amended 1996). By virtue of their various harmful properties, special wastes require particular care in their disposal. The regulations are expected to be brought into line with the EU list of Hazardous Waste and may broaden the range of waste streams considered to be hazardous.

Treated Waste
Waste which is treated in some way to reduce the potential to pollute or reduce the volume requiring final disposal or make final disposal more environmentally acceptable e.g. incineration, pulverisation, baling.

Untreated Waste
Waste disposed of in the form which it is collected.