What does RCRA define as hazardous waste in terms of characteristic vs listed?

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RCRA identifies hazardous waste through two pathways: by characteristics and by listing. A waste is hazardous if it exhibits one of the hazardous characteristics (ignitable, corrosive, reactive, or toxic) or if it is specifically listed by the EPA on hazardous waste lists (such as F-, K-, or U-listed wastes). A waste only needs to meet one of these criteria to be regulated as hazardous. Some wastes are hazardous because of their properties, while others are hazardous because they come from certain sources or contain certain constituents, even if they don’t exhibit a listed property. State programs can add more stringent rules, but the fundamental idea is that hazardous waste falls into either characteristic or listed categories.