RCRA Hazardous Waste (US, 40 CFR 261)
Plastic packaging (film, bottles, crates) is not a federal hazardous waste under RCRA when clean. It is regulated as solid waste under state/local rules and is a recovered commodity when separately collected.
Also searched as: plastic wrap, shrink wrap, plastic bags, PET bottles
Have a plastic-packaging stream? See the dossier that replaces the feasibility study.
See the validation dossierNo federal hazardous waste code
Plastic Packaging does not carry a federal RCRA hazardous waste code. It is regulated as solid waste under state and local rules, and specifics depend on your state environmental agency.
Not being federally hazardous does not mean it has no value — clean plastic packaging is often a recovered commodity with active buyers.
RCRA classifies waste by source, process, and characteristics — not just material. Pick the row that matches how your plastic packaging arises; each coded row links to the full waste code definition under 40 CFR Part 261.
Clean plastic packaging
Not RCRA hazardous
Contaminated plastic (pesticide bottles, chemical containers)
The residual chemical code governs
Source: 40 CFR Part 261 — Identification and Listing of Hazardous Waste
Shipping to the EU?
See the EWC code for plastic packaging.
Plastic Packaging
With a lab analysis, the engine checks the stream against each receiving route's published limits and returns what is supported, what is refused, and why. Without one yet, we tell you which routes it can evaluate and what analysis that needs.
See what the output looks like: a worked dossier.
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