ENVIRONMENT REPORT 2013
page 30
Waste Categories
To manage wastes effectively and to help develop trend data, wastes are
categorised according to their hazardous properties. These are:
Special Wastes
Essentially any waste with hazardous properties which may render it harmful
to human health or the environment (in current legislation now referred to
as ‘hazardous waste’). These include:
•
Chemicals/paints – paints, adhesives, hazardous completion/
workover/drilling fluid additives, solvents, hazardous chemicals,
hazardous brines
•
Drums/containers – nominally empty drums containing
hazardous residues
•
Oils – lubricants, engine/hydraulic oils, crude oil
•
Miscellaneous special waste – transformers, capacitors, batteries,
extinguishing agents, aerosols, contaminated filters, oily rags,
refrigerants, absorbents, molecular sieves, contaminated shot
blast, contaminated swarf, polychlorinated biphenyl, contaminated
casing/pipe protectors, pipe lagging
•
Sludges/liquids/tank washings – oil spills, fluids containing heavy
metals/hazardous chemicals, hazardous vessel tank washings,
pig wax
General Wastes
•
Chemicals/paints – non-hazardous workover/completion/drilling
fluids, brines
•
Drums/containers – empty metal/plastic drums, dried paint cans
•
Scrap metal – scrap metal, wire rope, uncontaminated pipe, electric
cable, non-contaminated swarf
•
Segregated recyclables – aluminium cans, cardboard, packaging,
paper, wood, rubber, plastics, glass, fluorescent tubes, casing/pipe
protectors, cooking oil
•
General waste – galley waste, accommodation waste,
compactor waste
•
Sludges/liquids/tank washings – non-hazardous vessel tank washings
Other Wastes
•
Asbestos – asbestos/asbestos-containing materials, compressed
asbestos fibre joints
•
Radioactive materials – smoke alarms, gammatrons, emergency
lighting. Excludes Naturally Occurring Radioactive Material (NORM)
which is reported separately
•
Clinical – cinbins, soiled dressings, prescription medicines
•
Explosives
