4.2. Chemical analysis of waste

As already indicated in Chapter 3.2.1 (‘Step 3’), in certain cases the information derived from e.g. a SDS of a product becoming waste, GHS labels, knowledge of the ‘waste-generating’ process and other databases are not sufficient to allow an assessment of the hazardous properties of the waste in question. Given that having sufficient knowledge on the waste's composition is a prerequisite to be able to make use of the calculation approach described in Chapter 3.2.2 (‘Step 4’), a chemical analysis of the waste in question may be necessary. As a general information basis, Table 25 contains a non-exhaustive list of CEN methods and standards for the characterisation of waste (3). Table 25 Non-exhaustive list on CEN methods and standards for the characterisation of waste Information derived from chemical analyses of waste that can be used for the classification of waste should be compositional data. Results from leaching tests — as often obtained from laboratory results in the frame of testing the fulfilment of WAC criteria from the Landfill Directive — are not generally useful for the hazard classification of waste. The only exemption from this principle may be the case of assessing HP 15. In particular, this means that, e.g. if a waste has failed the Inert WAC criteria from the Landfill Directive, it will not be hazardous or respectively non-hazardous automatically. WAC results should not be used as the sole source of information for hazardous waste classification. A WAC analysis is only actually required if 1) the chosen treatment is disposal in a landfill and 2) the class of landfill previously defined by a hazardous or non-hazardous classification requires a numerical WAC test. However, the substances present in the leachate may offer some clues regarding the constituents of the source waste. Please note that in particular regarding inorganic substances, chemical analyses usually do not provide information about the specific chemical compounds within a waste but only allow the identification of cations and anions. Neither the molecular composition nor other consideration, such as the identification of mineralogical forms is usually possible using conventional analytical techniques. In the following, some possible methods to overcome this obstacle are presented. More approaches and conventions on MS level may be available which should be checked additionally.

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Source: EUR-Lex (Cellar) · retrieved 2026-09-25 · Text as adopted (Official Journal); later amendments are not incorporated in this text.