Special waste is waste produced by industries and companies. It differs from municipal waste in that it is not managed by public authorities through tax contributions, but rather managed and disposed of by a system of private companies.

According to Article 184 of Legislative Decree 152/06, waste can be classified by origin into municipal and special waste, and by hazard characteristics into hazardous and non-hazardous waste. Furthermore, municipal and special waste, whether hazardous or non-hazardous, are also classified according to their final destination: • Non-reusable: must necessarily be sent for disposal; • Reusable: can be sent for disposal or recovery in production cycles, depending on the case.

The management of special waste is carried out through specific and direct agreements between the producers of special waste (i.e., the manufacturing companies) and service providers (i.e., disposal facilities and all operators involved in the various phases of waste management: transport, service, documentation, analysis, etc.).

Wastes are identified by a 6-digit code. The list of identifying codes (C.E.R. attached to Part Four of Legislative Decree 152/06) is divided into 20 classes, depending on the production cycle that generated the waste. Within the list, some types of waste are classified as hazardous or non-hazardous from the origin, while for others, hazard depends on the concentration of hazardous substances contained. Hazardous waste is marked with an asterisk in the list.

Waste analysis is necessary, at least at the time of the initial classification, to determine the hazardousness of the waste. It must be repeated periodically in relation to changes in the waste composition, or, if there are no changes, to demonstrate the persistence of non-hazardous characteristics.