What is Characteristic Hazardous Waste?

Characteristic hazardous wastes possess noxious “characteristics” such as:

• Flammability—they catch fire under certain conditions, posing obvious transport & storage dangers
• Corrosiveness—they can disintegrate metals and therefore require storage vessels constructed of (or lined with) anticorrosive materials
• Instability—they’re prone to explode under heat or pressure; or produce toxic fumes, gasses, or vapors
• Toxicity—they are harmful or fatal to humans and/or local biota when ingested or absorbed, or can leach into soil or groundwater
• Reactivity—otherwise benign chemicals might become flammable, corrosive, unstable, or toxic when mixed with others