Corrosive, reactive, ignitable, and toxic are properties of what?

The properties mentioned—corrosive, reactive, ignitable, and toxic—are defining characteristics of hazardous waste. Hazardous waste is any waste that poses substantial or potential threats to public health or the environment due to these properties. Understanding these traits is essential for proper waste management, including identification, handling, and disposal.

Corrosive materials can destroy living tissue and materials on contact, reactive substances can cause explosions or release toxic gases under certain conditions, ignitable waste is capable of catching fire spontaneously, and toxic materials can cause harm to human health or the environment. Recognizing these hazards is crucial for compliance with safety regulations and for implementing effective risk management strategies in environmental health and safety practices.

In contrast, non-hazardous waste does not possess these harmful characteristics, recyclable materials typically refer to items that can be reprocessed and do not necessarily have hazardous properties, and industrial waste can encompass a broad range of waste types, but not all industrial waste is hazardous. Therefore, it is clear that the correct classification of waste with corrosive, reactive, ignitable, and toxic properties is hazardous waste.