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Eight exclusions ease recycling.
In the early days of RCRA, recycling was a ticket out of RCRA. To clamp down on sham recycling, EPA began regulating many materials that are reclaimed as solid and potentially hazardous waste. [§261.2] However, to encourage recycling, the federal regs currently contain eight recycling exclusions that exclude some materials being recycled from the definition of solid waste.
The first four “use/reuse” recycling exclusions are contained in §§261.2(e)(1)(i–iii) and 261.4(a)(8), and most states have these in their regulations. The second four, known as the definition of solid waste (DSW) exclusions, are found in §§261.4(a)(23), 261.4(a)(24), 261.4(a)(25), and 261.4(a)(27). About two-thirds of the states have adopted some or all of these exclusions.
Materials that can are managed under one of these exclusions are not solid (or hazardous) wastes and are not subject to RCRA. This allows these materials to be managed outside of RCRA, as long as several conditions are met and the recycling is legitimate—which makes recycling easier. If your stars align, always document your claim to an exclusion [§261.2(f)] and always check with your state first.
Join us in class to learn how these exclusions work.
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