Hazardous waste not only affects the environment, but also has the ability to impact wildlife and human populations. Hazardous waste represents a serious problem: if any form of it is released into the environment it can cause huge environmental catastrophes. On the other hand it can be used as a synthetic fuel to power some machines. So hazardous waste can be used for useful purposes but it can also wreak havoc on the environment. Hazardous waste: what is it? According to the World Book Encyclopedia, hazardous wastes are “…chemical substances and chemical byproducts that may endanger human health or pollute the environment” (122). While this is an accurate definition of hazardous waste, it does not state that "Before a material can be classified as a hazardous waste, it must first be a solid waste as defined by RCRA." Together you will have a more accurate description of what a hazardous waste is, but there is one thing that both of you are missing: the characteristics of a hazardous waste. For example, a “waste is declared dangerous if it corrodes (consumes) other materials; explodes; lights easily; reacts strongly with water; it is unstable to heat or shock; or it is poisonous” (Haz. Waste 122). We now have a definition of what a hazardous waste is capable of, defined as it used to be called “hazardous waste”, and the characteristics that the material must have to be a “hazardous waste”. To really know what a hazardous waste is, you need to know all the different types of hazardous waste. Some “hazardous wastes can be liquids, solids, gases or sludges. They can be discarded commercial products... or by-products of production processes” (Wastes-Haz. Waste). Overall this means that hazardous waste can be the core of the paper. March 24, 2014. “Hazardous Waste.” The World Book Encyclopedia. 2005 edition. 2005. Print. “National Agricultural Safety Database: Disposal of Household Hazardous Waste.” National Agricultural Safety Database: Disposal of Household Hazardous Waste. np and nd Web. March 25, 2014. “Office of Environmental Health and Safety.” Hazardous waste. np and nd Web. March 25, 2014. “South Carolina Hazardous Waste Landfill Could Cost $400 Million to Maintain.” Hazardous Waste/Subsoil Notice. March 7, 2014: 2-4. Print.Stenstup, Allen. Hazardous waste. Chicago: Childrens Press, 1991. Print. “Toxic Waste: Poisonous Byproducts of Mankind.” National Geographic, March 7, 2014. Web. March 5, 2014. “Safely Transport Hazardous Materials.” University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. NP and Web. 25 March 2014 "Waste - Hazardous waste". United States Environmental Protection Agency. US EPA, March 7, 2014. Web. March 5. 2014.