California waste code 551 Chemical waste thrown out by a lab.

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Based on California Title 22 and DTSC guidance
Nothing is stored

Miscellaneous
Discarded laboratory chemicals

A laboratory discarded the hazardous chemicals as laboratory waste.

Hazardous chemicals discarded by a laboratory. The waste is described by the chemicals themselves, not by the lab.

Is California code 551 hazardous waste?

Not from the code alone. Waste must first be found hazardous. Code 551 isn't a restricted code, but a restricted category that fits takes priority over it. A code that isn't restricted doesn't make waste non-hazardous.

When a shipment needs the Uniform Hazardous Waste Manifest, enter 551 in Item 13 for the waste line. Use one California code, plus the federal RCRA codes when the waste is federally hazardous.

RCRA waste meets a federal listing or characteristic, with no federal exclusion that applies. Non-RCRA waste is hazardous under California rules only. California presumes hazardous waste is RCRA unless the generator shows it isn't, so keep that determination.

What does California code 551 cover?

This code is for chemicals discarded as laboratory waste. It doesn't tell you what is in a lab pack or the hazards of every bottle. Record the actual chemicals and their hazardous properties, not just that they came from a laboratory.

Official wording: 22 CCR division 4.5, chapter 11, Appendix XII(b)

Is laboratory chemical waste California code 551?

Code	When it fits
551	A laboratory discards hazardous chemicals as laboratory waste, without an applicable restricted category.
711	The hazardous waste is liquid containing at least 1,000 mg/L cyanide.
741	The hazardous waste is liquid containing at least 1,000 mg/L total halogenated organic compounds.
792	The hazardous liquid has pH at or below 2 and contains a metal listed under code 121.

Restricted descriptions take priority when they fit. The regulations give no general preference between 551 and an overlapping non-restricted solvent, stock-chemical or pharmaceutical code. Confirm those overlaps from the waste profile, because a laboratory address doesn't settle them.

Which wastes take California code 551?

Waste	When it’s 551
Laboratory waste chemicals	The discarded chemicals came from laboratory work

Which codes sit beside California code 551?

Code	What it is
513	Small hazardous-waste container
521	Mud from drilling
531	Chemical toilet waste
541	Photographic processing chemicals
561	Discarded detergent or soap
571	Fly, bottom or retort ash
581	Waste from a gas scrubber
591	Dust collected by a baghouse