Search
Close this search box.

What waste do we manage?

What waste do we manage?

Hazardous waste

It isn’t the hazard that is our concern. We will take care of the elimination! For more than four decades, we have specialised in the management of hazardous waste, also known as special waste, in accordance with good professional practice. G.V.S. manages liquid, paste-like and solid hazardous waste, partially at its own treatment plant. However, we do not accept gases, explosives, nuclear materials or infectious materials there. We are pleased to transfer the management of non-hazardous waste to our cooperation partners.

We view ourselves as a service provider that operates on behalf of our customers and who thinks in business terms. We act on behalf of society, for whose protection we already have a legal responsibility. We also see ourselves as advocates for the environment, which we are determined to conserve.

According to 15 criteria, waste defined as hazardous is particularly hazardous to health, the air or water, or is explosive or combustible. The legislator has explicitly issued rules and regulations for its management, the compliance with which we not only strictly monitor, but also document accurately and comprehensibly in the record of proper waste management or the notification procedure. What does this entail? For example, liquid and paste-like hazardous waste which is generated in a wide range of industrial processes. Or solid hazardous waste as a residue from stock clearance operations, as a faulty batch or standard waste from production processes. Finally, we are responsible for managing hazardous waste from industrial wastewater treatment, production and thermal processes – we also handle contaminated soil and hazardous construction and demolition waste.
What waste do we manage?

Examples

We will be happy to provide you with advice and assistance throughout the waste management process. If we are unable to find out how your waste is to be classified for our treatment plant during the initial consultation, the G.V.S. survey form and the subsequent sampling will provide information. The examination in the G.V.S. company laboratory also serves to calculate an individual waste management offer. The following list of typical types of hazardous waste, the disposal of which we handle on a daily basis, will provide you with an initial orientation. Found something that looks familiar? Then get in touch with us. Do you generate hazardous waste that is not mentioned? We will be happy to list it in the future as well – we would be grateful if you could tell us.

Typical hazardous waste

Beneficial for your internal communication: We call your waste by its name from the enquiry to the invoicing, and adopt your company’s internal designation. This not only simplifies our shared understanding of the task, but also has the effect of reducing the complexity when dealing with a complex matter: Your hazardous waste.

  1. spent acids
  2. spent lyes
  3. spent salts and their solutions
  1. Accumulated during the production of organic basic chemicals
  2. Accumulated during the production of plastics
  3. Accumulated during paint production and in paint shops
  1. Old paints
  2. Colour pigments
  3. Organic solvents
  1. Solid oil-contaminated operating materials
  2. Oil filters
  3. Oil and grease separator residues 
  4. Waste oils
  1. PCB contaminated capacitors
  1. Ink residues
  2. Paint slurry
  3. Organic solvents and cold cleaners
  1. spent acids
  2. spent lyes
  3. spent salts and their solutions
  1. Contaminated soil and construction waste
  2. Contaminated construction waste
  3. Foundry and blasting sands

There are no conflicting goals in our business. The management of hazardous waste can, must and should always comply with the economic, ecological and legal standards.

What waste do we manage?

Waste Catalogue Ordinance – AVV

The AVV (Waste Catalogue Ordinance) is authoritative both for the designation of waste and for the classification of waste according to how hazardous it is. A waste is assigned to a type of waste according to the specifications of the AVV, which consists of the six-digit waste code and the waste designation, for example: 20 03 01, mixed municipal waste. These types of waste are listed conclusively in the annex of the AVV in the Waste Catalogue, i.e. a type of waste must be assigned to one of these types of waste. There are 842 types of waste in total. There are three kinds of types of waste.

228 types of waste are hazardous because these types of waste are considered to exhibit one or more of the hazard-relevant properties HP 1 to HP 15 (HP – “hazardous properties”) listed in Annex III of the Waste Framework Directive. For the hazardous types of waste, the waste code is marked with an asterisk (*), for example 13 07 01* (heating oil and diesel).

236 types of waste are non-hazardous, as these wastes are assumed to have none of the aforementioned hazard-relevant properties.

Source: Ordinance on the European Waste Catalogue, Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection, Ordinance on the European Waste Catalogue | Laws and Ordinances | BMUV (accessed on 30.12.2021)

There are 378 types of waste that are referred to as “mirror entries.” In these “mirror entries,” at least one non-hazardous type of waste is assigned directly to a hazardous type of waste, such as 20 01 37* (wood containing hazardous materials) and 20 01 38 (wood other than that covered by 20 01 37). In the case of mirror entries, the distinction between hazardous and non-hazardous types of waste is based on whether a waste exhibits one or more of the above hazard-relevant attributes. These attributes can be evaluated either on the basis of substance concentrations or on the results of internationally-recognized test methods.

In principle, this also applies to waste which contains persistent organic pollutants (POPs). However, stricter requirements apply to waste which contains certain POPs. If the 16 POPs listed in the AVV and specified by EU law exceed the corresponding limit values of Annex IV of the EU POP Regulation, this waste is to be classified as hazardous. These 16 POPs include PCBs or dioxins (PCDD), for example.

Waste containing POPs other than those specified by EU law are not to be classified as hazardous if only the limit values in Annex IV of the EU POP Regulation are exceeded. The requirements of the POP Waste Monitoring Ordinance apply to these types of waste.

Note from G.V.S.

In the AVV, an origin-related declaration of waste is applied. Unfortunately, it has little informative value about the composition of specific batches of waste. Nevertheless, the generator of the waste is obliged to declare the waste according to the AVV code. We will be happy to advise you on the correct procedure so that you are always on the safe side legally.

Waste code - search
Contact

With over 40 years of experience and the know-how of our employees, GVS is able to offer you a full range of services in the area of hazardous waste.

Abonnieren Sie unseren Newsletter

Useful links

Contact information

Certification partners