May 2025 Newsletter
- Updated Example Waste Stream Template
- Using our Trademarks: HazWasteOnline™ and HWOL™
- Group Entries in the CLP – what is the difference between “metal salts” and “metal compounds”?
- Non-CLP substance: barium chromate
- Updated Irish EPA Soil Recovery Sites Screening Tool
- Updated GB POPs Screening Tools – GB Regulation 2025/296
- Updated POPs Screening Tools – Annex V
- What is the difference between the thresholds in Annex IV versus Annex V?
Updated Example Waste Stream Template
We have recently reviewed and updated the “Example waste stream template for contaminated soils” that we provide to users. The revised template is now called “Example worst-case waste stream template: 17 05 03*/17 05 04 “. Apart from the name change, the other changes are:
- Addition of determinand species: barium {barium chromate}
- Addition of determinand species: vanadium {vanadium pentoxide}
- Addition of determinand: pH: acid/alkali reserve
- Arsenic species changed to worst case: arsenic acid and its salts
- Beryllium species changed to worst case: beryllium chloride
- Chromium(III) species changed to worst case: chromium(III) chromate
- Copper species changed to worst case: copper sulphate pentahydrate
- Nickel species change to worst case: nickel dibromate
- Addition of determinand “asbestos”
- Addition of determinand “fibres detected (Yes/No)”
Information about using evidence to move from worst case to a more reasonable case metal species can be found in the training course materials, the HazWasteOnline™ Wiki and Bishop & Hennebert 2021.
Note that the determinand “asbestos” is for capturing the concentration of asbestos identified under a microscope by the lab and subsequently quantified by the lab.
“Asbestos Yes/No” is for information only and is used to indicate whether asbestos was found by the lab (but not quantified). It does not influence the hazardous/non-hazardous outcome in any way.
If asbestos fragments visible to the human eye are found (e.g. documented in the trial pit log), the classifier will need to add the determinand “asbestos in identifiable pieces of suspected ACM” and enter a nominal % concentration for the amount of asbestos in the fragment.
Using the determinand “asbestos in identifiable pieces of suspected ACM” adds a second List of Waste code to the Job, with the asbestos fragment recorded in a separate table in the PDF classification report.
More information about all these determinands can be found in the HazWasteOnline™ Wiki.
Using our Trademarks: HazWasteOnline™ and HWOL™
We are more than happy if you reference HazWasteOnline™ or HWOL™ on your websites, marketing materials and reports etc. However, we see a lot of abbreviations and other variations (e.g. Haz Waste) that can cause confusion and misunderstandings. We would therefore ask that you review your website text/images and other documentations and ensure that you refer only to HazWasteOnline™ or HWOL™.
This will help;
- you raise your company’s profile further,
- your customers to know that you are using HazWasteOnline™, and
- search engines to link it all together.
Group Entries in the CLP – what is the difference between “metal salts” and “metal compounds”?
Examples:
- barium salts, with the exception of barium sulphate, salts of 1-azo-2-hydroxynaphthalenyl aryl sulphonic acid, and of salts specified elsewhere in this Annex.
- arsenic acid and its salts with the exception of those specified elsewhere in this Annex.
- arsenic compounds, with the exception of those specified elsewhere in this Annex.
Metal compounds is a broader term that includes both salts and non-salts, such as a base. What are salts and bases – read on.
What is a salt?
Salts are formed when a metal such as barium reacts with an acid (e.g. hydrochloric acid (HCl), sulphuric acid (H2SO4), nitric acid HNO3), chromic acid (H2Cr2O4), carbonic acid (H2CO3) or non-metals (e.g. Cl2) to form an ionic compound.
acid + alkali = salt + water
What is a base?
A base in chemistry is a substance that can react with acids to neutralize them, typically producing a salt and water as products. For example:
2HCl + Ba(OH)2 = BaCl2 + 2H2O
2HCl + BaO = BaCl2 + H2O
While barium hydroxide and barium oxide are compounds of barium and contain the barium cation Ba2+, they are not salts of barium.
And another subtly; the difference between an alkali and a base.
| Term | Definition | Examples |
| Base | A substance that accepts protons (H⁺) or donates hydroxide ions (OH⁻) | Copper(II) oxide (CuO), barium hydroxide (Ba(OH)₂), ammonia (NH₃) |
| Alkali | It is a soluble base — a base that dissolves in water to give OH⁻ ions | Sodium hydroxide (NaOH), potassium hydroxide (KOH), barium hydroxide (Ba(OH)₂) |
Non-CLP substance: barium chromate
So why has HazWasteOnline™ added barium chromate to our worst-case list of barium compounds? Barium chromate is not listed in the CLP so should not it be covered by the barium salts group entry?
The answer is No, because the group entry is incomplete with respect to barium chromate where incomplete means that a substance is missing one or more hazard properties.
IARC considers all chromates to be HP7 carcinogenic. The barium salts group entry, with respect to barium chromate, is incomplete as the group entry does not include H350 or H351. To remedy this, we have “self-classified” barium chromate and added it to HazWasteOnline™ using the H350 hazard statement (Hence it is marked by a green dot. This classification is also reflected in REACH compliant SDS from the likes of Sigma Aldrich.
Updated Irish EPA Soil Recovery Sites Screening Tool
We have added the determinand “< 2% non-natural materials” to the Soil Recovery Site screening tool. The tool asks you to select “Yes” or “No” from the dropdown. An answer of “No” will trigger a failure.
Note that the screening tools work independently of the waste classification and the WAC screening tools. If the data are present in the Job and/or manually entered, the data will populate the relevant screening tools.
HazWasteOnline™ does not (currently) enforce a relationship between a non-hazardous classification, passing inert WAC and meeting the screening criteria for the relevant geological domain. It is up to the user to bring this last step of the assessment together.
Updated GB POPs Screening Tools – GB Regulation 2025/296
Statutory Instrument 2025 No. 296 The Persistent Organic Pollutants (Amendment) Regulations 2025 was published on 11th March. This regulation modifies the table in Annex IV of GB Regulation 2019/1021; it
- reduces thresholds for PBDE compounds (from 1000 to 500 mg/kg)
- adds pentachlorophenol (100 mg/kg)
- adds PFHxS and its salts (1mg/kg) and PFHxS related compounds (40 mg/kg)
- adds PFOA and its salts (1mg/kg) and PFOA related compounds (40 mg/kg)
For fire-fighting foam mixtures, it has more stringent thresholds for PFOA; it
- adds PFOA and its salts (0.025 mg/kg) and PFOA related compounds (1 mg/kg)
We have added a dropdown selection box to allow classifiers to switch between the scenarios.
The EU POPS screening tool dropdown is slightly different as it factors in the changes to some thresholds that have been legislated to come into force on Dec 2025 and December 2027.
Updated POPS Screening Tools – Annex V
We have implemented the requirements of Annex V, Part 2 in the EU and GB POPs screening tools, which links alternative thresholds to certain List of Waste codes. In the cases where the Job’s List of Waste code matches an Annex V List of Waste code a extra option is added to the selection list:
Note that currently, the PDF report will tabulate the outcomes for all options shown in the dropdown list.
What is the difference between the thresholds in Annex IV versus Annex V?
Annex IV sets out the concentration limits (thresholds) for POPs in waste: If the concentration of a specified POP in the waste is at or above the Annex IV limit, the wase must be destroyed or irreversibly transformed to ensure that the POP content is eliminated.
Annex V (Part 2) has derogations which set higher concentrations, for certain List of Waste codes, where waste containing POPs above the Annex IV limit, but below the Annex V limit, may be managed using alternative methods, rather than destruction or irreversible transformation.
For example, the Annex IV threshold for PFOA and its salts is 1mg/kg; while in Annex V the threshold for specific waste codes such as 17 01 01 concrete or 17 05 04/ 03* soil and stones) is 50 mg/kg.
The LoW codes listed in Annex V for both GB and EU & Northern Ireland can be found in the HWOL Wiki