The regulations of the USEPA include exclusions from the definition of solid waste for certain discarded materials.  This exclusion is limited to specific industries, processes, and chemicals identified by regulation.  This exclusion is important since if a discarded material is not a solid waste, then it can’t be regulated as a hazardous waste, even if it matches the description of a listed hazardous waste or exhibited the characteristics of a hazardous waste.

This article is meant to serve as an introduction and a starting point for all of the exclusions of §261.4(a).  Below are links to articles which themselves are Power Point presentation previously uploaded to SlideShare and later posted on my blog.  As of May 2013 I am still a long way from completion, but be patient, I’ll eventually get to them all. If you are not patient, then contact me with a request, I’ll do my best to accommodate your wishes as soon as I can by posting another blog post/SlideShare Upload.

40 CFR 261.4(a)…

(1) Domestic sewage.  Or, view with narration and animation as an Office Mix

(2) Industrial wastewater discharges.

(4) Source, special nuclear or by-product material as defined by the Atomic Energy Act of 1954.

(5) Materials subjected to in-situ mining techniques which are not removed from the ground as part of the extraction process.

(6) Pulping liquors ( i.e., black liquor) that are reclaimed in a pulping liquor recovery furnace and then reused in the pulping process.

(7) Spent sulfuric acid used to produce virgin sulfuric acid.

(8) Secondary materials that are reclaimed and returned to the original process or processes in which they were generated where they are reused in the production process.

(9) Spent wood preserving solutions that have been reclaimed and are reused for their original intended purpose.

(10) Coke by-product waste.

(11) Non-wastewater splash condenser dross residue.

(12) Hazardous oil-bearing secondary materials and recovered oil from petroleum refining operations.

(13) Excluded scrap metal being recycled.

(14) Shredded circuit boards being recycled.

(15) Condensates from Kraft Mill steam strippers.

(16) Comparable fuels or comparable syngas fuels.

(17) Mineral processing spent materials.

(18) Petrochemical recovered oil.

(19) Spent caustic solutions from petroleum refining.

(20) Zinc fertilizers made from recycled hazardous secondary materials.

(21) Zinc fertilizers made from recycled hazardous secondary materials excluded under 261.4(a)(20).

(22) Used cathode ray tubes.

(23) The Generator-Controlled Exclusion. (revised by the 2015 Definition of Solid Waste Rule)

(24) The Verified Recycler Exclusion. (revised by the 2015 Definition of Solid Waste Rule). Or, view with narration and animation as an Office Mix.

(25) Reclamation of hazardous secondary material outside the US.

(26) Solvent-contaminated wipes sent for laundering and reuse.

(27) Remanufacturing Exclusion for Spent Solvents.  (revised by the 2015 Definition of Solid Waste Rule)