New challenges in the further development of the ITAD/IGAM guidelines
The classification of waste in accordance with waste legislation is the responsibility of the waste producer, including in the case of bottom ash from the thermal treatment of municipal waste (MTW).
The proper classification of slags places high demands on both the fundamentals of evaluating analysis results and the performance of the necessary analyses. The IGAM and ITAD associations have jointly published a practical guide for the classification of HMV slags under waste legislation. The bifa Environmental Institute has made significant contributions to this guide and has extensive experience in performing the necessary analyses.
The guide is currently available in version 2.2 dated 3 December 2024. It takes into account the latest adaptations of the CLP Regulation to technical and scientific progress (ATP 21), which entered into force on 24 January 2024 and will apply from 1 September 2025.
The new adaptation (ATP 22), which already came into force on 24 October 2024 and will be valid from 1 May 2026, brings with it a new challenge with regard to the assessment of elemental copper, as the specific surface area (> 0.67 mm2/mg) of particles must be taken into account in future.
As part of a current project, the bifa Environmental Institute is working on the further development of the ITAD guidelines to determine how these analytically challenging innovations can be implemented in a practical manner.