The federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) is the act that allows the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to promulgate regulations governing the generation, transport, and disposal of, "Universal Wastes." The regulations were developed to promote the collection and recycling of special categories of hazardous waste.
Types of Federal Universal Waste
The federal regulations identify five specific categories of materials that can be managed as universal wastes: batteries, pesticides, mercury-containing equipment, lamps and aerosol cans. The part 273 regulations define the type of materials that fall under the universal waste categories and specify in what situations that material can be considered a universal waste.
Click on each of the materials below to learn more about each universal waste category: