3. How to use the New Zealand Waste List
The New Zealand Waste List (L-Code) provides guidance on wastes that are generated by various industry sectors and municipal wastes. The L-Code contains a wide range of wastes including those that are regarded as hazardous.
The L-Code was adopted from the European Waste Code (EWC), a list of wastes used by European authorities to identify and classify wastes (European Council Directive Decision 2000/532/EC). In order to ensure that the EWC was relevant to New Zealand waste management, the Hazardous Waste team at the Ministry for the Environment consulted on the L-Code with representatives from industry and local government. The consultation was completed with 50 businesses in early 2001. The L-Code has also been used as the primary classification in a hazardous waste survey with 1300 businesses in the Waikato and Bay of Plenty regions, and in an industry waste programme in the Marlborough region for the past 18 months. The results of these consultation rounds showed that the EWC was useful and covered most wastes produced by New Zealand industry with some minor changes.
NOTE: The L-Code is subject to change, based on feedback from users. The most recent version of the L-Code is available online, or by contacting Jonathan Coakley.
To categorise a waste according to the New Zealand Waste List, follow these steps:
- Identify the source generating the waste in categories 01 to 12 or 17 to 20 and identify the appropriate six-digit code of the waste (excluding codes ending with 99 of these categories). Alternatively, perform a search on the online New Zealand Waste List and select the appropriate source of the waste.
Note that a specific production unit, business or industry may need to classify its activities in several categories. For instance, a car manufacturer may find its wastes listed in categories 12 (wastes from shaping and surface treatment of metals), 11 (inorganic wastes containing metals from metal treatment and the coating of metals) and 08 (wastes from the use of coatings), depending on the different process steps.
- If no appropriate waste code can be found in categories 01 to 12 or 17 to 20 then categories 13, 14, and 15 must be examined to identify the waste.
- If none of these waste codes in categories 13, 14, or 15 apply, then identify the waste according to category 16.
- If the waste is not in category 16, the 99 code (wastes not otherwise specified) must be used in the section of the list corresponding to the category identified in step 1.
- Any waste on the list marked with an asterisk (*) is regarded as a hazardous waste according to the Draft Definition of Hazardous Waste. However, the waste is unequivocally hazardous only if the concentrations of hazardous substances in the waste (i.e. percentage by weight) are such that the waste exceeds any of the thresholds specified in the Draft Definition of Hazardous Waste.
- For the purpose of the New Zealand Waste List, "hazardous substance" means any substance that has been or will be classified as hazardous under the Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Act (1996) and the Hazardous Substances (Minimum Degrees of Hazard) Regulations 2001; "heavy metal" means any compound of antimony, arsenic, cadmium, chromium (VI), copper, lead, mercury, nickel, selenium, tellurium, thallium and tin, including these metals in metallic form, as far as these are classified as hazardous substances.
For example, a timber processing plant may generate the following wastes:
- Bark and cork from sawing timber before treatment
03 Wastes from wood processing and the production of panels and furniture, pulp, paper and cardboard
03 01 Wastes from wood processing and the production of panels and furniture
03 01 01 waste bark and cork
This waste is not marked with an asterisk; therefore it is not a hazardous waste - Waste CCA timber treatment chemicals
03 Wastes from wood processing and the production of panels and furniture, pulp, paper and cardboard
03 02 Wastes from wood preservation
03 02 03* organometallic wood preservatives
This waste is marked with an asterisk; therefore it is a hazardous waste - Contaminated lubricating oil from machinery
13 Oil wastes and wastes of liquid fuels (except edible oils, 05 and 12)
13 02 Waste engine, gear and lubricating oils
13 02 05* mineral-based non-chlorinated engine, gear and lubricating oils transmission oils
This waste is marked with an asterisk; therefore it is a hazardous waste
Note that not all wastes in the example industry above are included in the same L-Code category (e.g. wastes are found in the 03 and 13 categories). It is important that when you identify a waste using the L-Code, the instructions above are followed consistently to ensure you select the appropriate waste code.
