Waste comes in many different forms and may be categorized in a variety of ways. The types listed here are not necessarily exclusive and there may be considerable overlap so that one waste entity may fall into one to many types. *

Agricultural waste Agricultural waste are plant residues from agriculture. These waste streams originate from arable land and horticulture. Agricultural waste are all parts of crops that are not used for human or animal food. Crop residues consist mainly of stems ...

* Animal by-products (see slaughterhouse waste) *

Biodegradable waste Biodegradable waste includes any organic matter in waste which can be broken down into carbon dioxide, water, methane, compost, humus, and simple organic molecules by micro-organisms and other living things by composting, aerobic digestion, ana ...

Biomedical waste Biomedical waste or hospital waste is any kind of waste containing Infection, infectious (or potentially infectious) materials generated during the treatment of humans or animals as well as during research involving biologics. It may also include ...

Bulky waste Bulky waste or bulky refuse is a technical term taken from waste management to describe waste types that are too large to be accepted by the regular waste collection. It is usually picked up regularly in many countries from the streets or Sidew ...

* Business waste *

Chemical waste Chemical waste is any excess, unused, or unwanted chemical. Chemical waste may be classified as hazardous waste, non-hazardous waste, universal waste, or household hazardous waste, each of which is regulated separately by national government ...

* Clinical waste (see

) *

Coffee wastewater Coffee wastewater, also known as coffee effluent, is a byproduct of coffee processing. Its treatment and disposal is an important environmental consideration for coffee processing as wastewater is a form of industrial water pollution. The unpicked ...

Commercial waste Commercial waste consists of waste from premises used mainly for the purposes of a trade or business or for the purpose of sport, recreation, education or entertainment, but excluding household, agricultural or industrial waste.Composite waste Waste are unwanted or unusable materials. Waste is any substance discarded after primary use, or is worthless, defective and of no use. A by-product, by contrast is a joint product of relatively minor economic value. A waste product may beco ...

Construction and demolition waste Construction waste or debris is any kind of debris from the construction process. Different government agencies have clear definitions. For example, the United States Environmental Protection Agency EPA defines construction and demolition mater ...

(C&D waste) *

Controlled waste Controlled waste is waste that is subject to legislative control in either its handling or its disposal. As a legal term, Controlled waste applies exclusively to the UK but the concept is enshrined in laws of many other countries. The types of waste ...

* Demolition waste * Dog waste *

Domestic waste Municipal solid waste (MSW), commonly known as trash or garbage in the United States and rubbish in Britain, is a waste type consisting of everyday items that are discarded by the public. "Garbage" can also refer specifically to food waste, a ...

Electronic waste Electronic waste (or e-waste) describes discarded electrical or electronics, electronic devices. It is also commonly known as waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) or end-of-life (EOL) electronics. Used electronics which are destined ...

(e-waste) *

Food waste The causes of food going uneaten are numerous and occur throughout the food system, during food production, production, food processing, processing, Food distribution, distribution, Grocery store, retail and food service sales, and Social clas ...

Green waste Green waste, also known as biological waste, is any organic waste that can be composted. It is most usually composed of refuse from gardens such as grass clippings or leaves, and domestic or industrial kitchen wastes. Green waste does not inclu ...

Grey water Greywater (or grey water, sullage, also spelled gray water in the United States) refers to domestic wastewater generated in households or office buildings from streams without fecal contamination, i.e., all streams except for the wastewater fro ...

Hazardous waste Hazardous waste is waste that must be handled properly to avoid damaging human health or the environment. Waste can be hazardous because it is Toxicity, toxic, Chemical reaction, reacts violently with other chemicals, or is Corrosion, corrosive, ...

Household waste Municipal solid waste (MSW), commonly known as trash or garbage in the United States and rubbish in Britain, is a waste type consisting of everyday items that are discarded by the public. "Garbage" can also refer specifically to food waste, ...

** Household hazardous waste *

Human waste Human waste (or human excreta) refers to the waste products of the human digestive system, Menstruation, menses, and human metabolism including urine and Human feces, feces. As part of a sanitation system that is in place, human waste is collect ...

Sewage sludge Sewage sludge is the residual, semi-solid material that is produced as a by-product during sewage treatment of industrial or municipal wastewater. The term "septage" also refers to sludge from simple wastewater treatment but is connected to si ...

Industrial waste Industrial waste is the waste produced by industrial activity which includes any material that is rendered useless during a manufacturing process such as that of factories, mills, and mining operations. Types of industrial waste include dirt and ...

Slag The general term slag may be a by-product or co-product of smelting (pyrometallurgical) ores and recycled metals depending on the type of material being produced. Slag is mainly a mixture of metal oxides and silicon dioxide. Broadly, it can be c ...

Fly ash Coal combustion products (CCPs), also called coal combustion wastes (CCWs) or coal combustion residuals (CCRs), are byproducts of burning coal. They are categorized in four groups, each based on physical and chemical forms derived from coal combust ...

Sludge Sludge (possibly , or some dialect related to slush) is a semi-solid slurry that can be produced from a range of industrial processes, from water treatment, wastewater treatment or on-site sanitation systems. It can be produced as a settled sus ...

Inert waste Inert waste is waste which is neither chemically nor biologically reactive and will not decompose or only very slowly. Examples of this are sand, concrete, and demolition waste. This has particular relevance to landfills as inert waste typically re ...

Inorganic waste Inorganic waste is a type of waste that does not contain organic compounds. This waste is generally very difficult to decompose by microorganisms. Glass, aluminum cans, dust, and metal A metal () is a material that, when polished or fractur ...

Kitchen waste The causes of food going uneaten are numerous and occur throughout the food system, during food production, production, food processing, processing, Food distribution, distribution, Grocery store, retail and food service sales, and Social clas ...

Litter Litter consists of waste products that have been discarded incorrectly, without consent, at an unsuitable location. The waste is objects, often man-made, such as aluminum cans, paper cups, food wrappers, cardboard boxes or plastic bottles, but ...

Marine debris Marine debris, also known as marine litter, is human-created solid material that has deliberately or accidentally been released in seas or the ocean. Floating oceanic debris tends to accumulate at the center of gyres and on coastlines, freque ...

Medical waste Biomedical waste or hospital waste is any kind of waste containing infectious (or potentially infectious) materials generated during the treatment of humans or animals as well as during research involving biologics. It may also include waste ass ...

Metabolic waste Metabolic wastes or excrements are substances left over from metabolic processes (such as cellular respiration) which cannot be used by the organism (they are surplus or toxic), and must therefore be excreted. This includes nitrogen compounds ...

. See also

Feces Feces (also known as faeces American and British English spelling differences#ae and oe, or fæces; : faex) are the solid or semi-solid remains of food that was not digested in the small intestine, and has been broken down by bacteria in the ...

. * Mineral waste. See also

. * Mixed waste *

Municipal solid waste Municipal solid waste (MSW), commonly known as trash or garbage in the American English, United States and rubbish in British English, Britain, is a List of waste types, waste type consisting of everyday items that are discarded by the public. ...

* Nuclear waste (see

Radioactive waste Radioactive waste is a type of hazardous waste that contains radioactive material. It is a result of many activities, including nuclear medicine, nuclear research, nuclear power generation, nuclear decommissioning, rare-earth mining, and nuclear ...

) *

Organic waste Biodegradable waste includes any organic matter in waste which can be broken down into carbon dioxide, water, methane, compost, humus, and simple organic molecules by micro-organisms and other living things by composting, aerobic digestion, ana ...

Packaging waste Packaging waste, the part of the waste that consists of packaging and packaging material, is a major part of the total global waste, and the major part of the packaging waste consists of single-use plastic food packaging, a hallmark of throwawa ...

Post-consumer waste Post-consumer waste is a waste type produced by the end consumer of a material stream; that is, where the waste-producing use did not involve the production of another product. The terms of pre-consumer and post-consumer recycled materials are ...

Low-level waste Low-level waste (LLW) or low-level radioactive waste (LLRW) is a category of nuclear waste. The definition of low-level waste is set by the nuclear regulators of individual countries, though the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) provides ...

High-level waste High-level waste (HLW) is a type of nuclear waste created by the reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel. It exists in two main forms: * First and second cycle raffinate and other waste streams created by nuclear reprocessing. * Waste formed by vitr ...

** Mixed waste (radioactive/hazardous) **

Spent nuclear fuel Spent nuclear fuel, occasionally called used nuclear fuel, is nuclear fuel that has been irradiated in a nuclear reactor (usually at a nuclear power plant). It is no longer useful in sustaining a nuclear reaction in an ordinary thermal reactor and ...

Recyclable waste Recycling is the process of converting waste materials into new materials and objects. This concept often includes the Energy recycling, recovery of energy from waste materials. The recyclability of a material depends on its ability to reac ...

* Residual waste *

Retail hazardous waste Household hazardous waste (HHW) was a term coined by Dave Galvin from Seattle, Washington in 1982 as part of the fulfillment of a US EPA grant. This new term was reflective of the recent passage of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of ...

Sewage Sewage (or domestic sewage, domestic wastewater, municipal wastewater) is a type of wastewater that is produced by a community of people. It is typically transported through a sewerage, sewer system. Sewage consists of wastewater discharged fro ...

Sharps waste Sharps waste is a form of biomedical waste composed of used "sharps", which includes any device or object used to puncture or lacerate the skin. Sharps waste is classified as biohazardous waste and must be carefully handled. Common medical mater ...

Ship disposal A number of different methods exist for disposing of a ship after it has reached the end of its effective or economic service life with an organisation. Options Although many options are technically possible, some, such as deep water sinking, are ...

* Slaughterhouse waste * Special waste (see

)