Industrial solid waste is defined as waste that is generated by businesses from an industrial or manufacturing process or waste generated from non-manufacturing activities that are managed as a separate waste stream.

Proper waste management (click here) is an essential part of society’s public and environmental health. The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), passed in 1976, created the framework for America’s hazardous and non-hazardous waste management programs. Materials regulated by RCRA are known as “solid wastes.” Only materials that meet the definition of solid waste under RCRA can be classified as hazardous wastes, which are subject to additional regulation. EPA developed detailed regulations that define what materials qualify as solid wastes and hazardous wastes. Understanding the definition of a solid waste is an important first step in the process EPA set up for generators to hazardous waste to follow when determining if the waste they generated is a regulated hazardous waste....

...RCRA (click here) states that "solid waste" means any garbage or refuse, sludge from a wastewater treatment plant, water supply treatment plant, or air pollution control facility and other discarded material, resulting from industrial, commercial, mining, and agricultural operations, and from community activities. Nearly everything we do leaves behind some kind of waste.
It is important to note that the definition of solid waste is not limited to wastes that are physically solid. Many solid wastes are liquid, semi-solid, or contained gaseous material....