Waste Management Glossary

Whether you're a home or business owner, you may come across certain words related to waste management that you're not familiar with. However, knowing what they mean is crucial to ensure proper disposal of different waste materials. To help you meet your waste management responsibilities, we've prepared a glossary of waste and recycling terms.

Solid Waste Management Glossary

Types of waste:

• Agricultural waste: Any waste generated as a result of agricultural operations, including organic waste (e.g., crop waste and animal waste) and hazardous waste (e.g., pesticides).
• Biodegradable waste: Waste material that can broken down into organic molecules by microorganisms through processes such as aerobic composting and anaerobic digestion.
• Bulky waste: Large items, such as furniture or white goods, that cannot be collected by standard waste collection services. You can arrange a separate collection of bulky items by contacting your local council, though it may require paying a fee.
• Business waste: All waste produced by businesses. Depending on the type of business, it may be classified as commercial waste (e.g., restaurants, shops, offices) or industrial waste (e.g., chemical waste, manufacturing waste, and construction debris).
• Chemical waste: Waste materials that contain harmful chemicals. Like other hazardous waste, it must be stored, disposed of and processed safely and in accordance with appropriate regulations.
• Clinical waste: Waste from healthcare facilities, including hospitals, GP surgeries and dental clinics. Medical waste cannot be disposed of together with general waste as it may contain hazardous waste, e.g., chemical waste, infectious waste or sharp objects such as syringes.
• Compostable waste: Any organic material capable of breaking down naturally into non-toxic elements (carbon dioxide, water, and biomass) over time in the right conditions.
• Commingled waste: Dry mixed recyclable materials (such as paper, plastic, metal, and glass) collected in a single stream system.
• Construction and demolition waste: Waste collected from construction and demolition sites, which may include hazardous (e.g., asbestos) and non-hazardous materials (e.g., concrete, bricks), as well as recyclable materials (e.g., metals, plastic, glass).
• Food waste: Food waste from households and businesses, including leftover food scraps, as well as any food items and ingredients discarded during production and processing.
• Garden waste or green waste: Any organic waste generated by landscaping or gardening activities, such as grass clippings, leaves, hedge clippings, and tree trimmings.
• General waste: Non-hazardous and non-recyclable waste generated by households and businesses. This type of waste is also called residual waste.
• Hazardous waste: Waste materials that can be harmful to human health or the environment, including clinical waste, asbestos, chemicals and household hazardous waste, e.g. paints, cleaners, batteries. To avoid the risk of contamination and pollution, general and hazardous wastes must be stored, collected and treated separately. You may need to find a specialised company to collect chemical waste and hazardous materials, as not all rubbish removal companies have the necessary equipment and permits to offer this service.
• Household waste: A general term for all types of waste generated by households, including general waste, recyclable waste, garden waste and food waste. It's also called domestic or residential waste.
• Mixed waste: A waste stream consisting of different types of unsorted materials.
• (MSW) Municipal Solid Waste: All solid waste from households, as well as general waste from businesses and public spaces, collected in the area by local waste collection authorities. Agricultural, industrial, hazardous and medical waste materials are generally excluded from municipal solid waste streams.
• Organic waste: Biodegradable and compostable organic materials derived from plant or animal sources (e.g., food waste and green waste).
• Post-consumer waste: Any waste materials or products that have been purchased/used by consumers before their final disposal (e.g., packaging, clothing, food).
• Pre-consumer waste: Any waste generated before products reach consumers, e.g., during production or transport.
• Recyclable waste: Items and recyclable materials that can be collected, processed and used to manufacture new products. Recycling reduces the need for using raw materials. The most commonly recycled materials include paper, plastic, glass, and metal.
• Solid waste: Any waste collected from households and businesses, including recyclable, construction and demolition, general waste, etc., except for liquids.
• Scrap metal: Waste metals or items that contain metal (e.g., food cans, car parts, used appliances). Scrap metal can be reprocessed to obtain high-quality raw materials. Many types of metal can be recycled infinitely without losing their properties and quality.
• Textile waste: Any discarded fabrics, e.g., clothes and waste materials generated at different stages of manufacturing.
• Waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE): Electronic devices and appliances, e.g., computers, TVs, and kitchen appliances, should be properly disposed of and recycled, as they may contain hazardous or valuable materials. Such items are often discarded while they are still in good condition and can be reused instead of ending up in landfills.

Waste management terms:

• Carbon footprint: A measurement of the amount of greenhouse gas emissions generated by an individual, business or a specific action. It's often used to show the environmental impact of products, services, and brands.
• Composting: It's a process used to turn organic materials (plant and food waste) into compost through their decomposition. Compost can be used as a natural fertiliser in gardening and agriculture.
• Deposit Return Scheme: A cash incentive system that aims to increase recycling rates by adding small deposits to the price of single-use bottles and cans. Customers can get their deposit back in cash after returning bottles and cans to the designated sites. The DRS is supposed to be introduced in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland in 2025.
• Duty of Care: If you produce, keep, move, dispose of, treat, or collect waste, you're legally responsible for ensuring its proper storage and disposal in line with current regulations and without risks to public safety and the environment.
• Energy recovery: Non-recyclable waste can be converted into heat, electricity, or fuel through processes such as incineration or anaerobic digestion.
• Fly-tipping: The illegal dumping of waste (especially larger items, such as furniture or appliances, or general rubbish in large quantities) in forests, fields, roadsides, or other public places.
• Kerbside collection: A rubbish collection service provided to households (and sometimes businesses) in the area by local authorities. Residents place their waste containers on the kerb, which are then emptied by waste collectors using a waste collection vehicle.
• Landfill: A site used for disposal of non-hazardous and non-recyclable materials when no other disposal methods are available. Landfills must adhere to strict laws and regulations to avoid the risk of soil, air, and water pollution.
• Landfill tax: An environmental tax paid by businesses that use landfills as a method of waste disposal. It's charged by weight (per tonne) in addition to standard landfill fees.
• Litter: Waste left in the wrong place, e.g. public spaces. Litter typically consists of small items such as food wrappers, cigarette butts or plastic bottles.
• Materials recovery facility (MRF): Also known as a materials recycling facility, it's a specialised waste management plant responsible for receiving, separating and preparing recyclable materials. There are two types of MRFs: a clean MRF, which only accepts recyclables (e.g., from single-stream recycling collections) and a dirty MRF, which accepts a mixed waste stream and separates recyclables from municipal solid waste on site.
• Packaging waste recovery note: A document that proves that packaging waste has been recovered or recycled. Packaging waste regulations require obligated producers (businesses that manufacture or handle a certain amount of packaging materials) to recycle a proportion of their packaging.
• Raw materials: Unprocessed materials that can be used to manufacture other materials or goods.
• Recycled content: The percentage of recycled materials used to manufacture a finished product.
• Recycling: The process of turning recyclable waste and goods into new materials that can be used to manufacture new products instead of raw materials. It aims to reduce landfill waste and conserve natural resources by keeping existing materials in circulation, which means that the recycling industry plays a crucial role in preventing environmental pollution and decreasing greenhouse gas emissions.
• Recycling bins: Waste containers used to segregate recyclables.
• Refuse: Another word for rubbish or waste. It includes both recyclables and general waste.
• Refuse-derived fuel: A type of fuel produced from waste by energy recovery facilities.
• Reuse: This term is used when waste materials or items are used again for the same purpose or repurposed without the need for processing them first.
• Sanitary landfill: A landfill site where waste is buried in thin layers in a way that limits its impact on the environment.
• Single-stream recycling: A system in which all recyclable materials are collected in a single waste stream and delivered to a recycling facility where they are sorted and processed.
• Skip: A large waste receptacle that can be used to collect and transport waste.
• Treatment facility: A facility that receives, sorts and treats waste.
• Waste audit: A method of analysing the amount and type of waste generated by businesses to identify potential issues and areas that can be improved to reduce costs and environmental impact.
• Waste collection truck: A vehicle specially designed to collect municipal solid waste without the need to lift containers manually by a waste collector.
• Waste hierarchy: A ranking system used to evaluate various ways of managing waste based on their environmental impact and sustainability. It aims to promote waste reduction and recycling while reducing landfill waste.
• Waste stream: The complete flow of waste from its source to final disposal.
• Waste transfer note (WTN): Businesses are legally required to fill in waste transfer notes for each load of waste they dispose of.
• Wheelie bin: A standard waste container with wheels.
• Zero waste: An approach that promotes sustainability and waste prevention.

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