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ComparisonresearchonwasteclassificationbetweenChinaandtheEU,Japan,andtheUSAAbstractWasteandwastemanagementhavebecomesignificantglobalissuesandcommonchallengesthatweface.Efficientandeffectivewastemanagementisanessentialpartofcivilizedsociety.Agoodwasteclassificationsystemisthefoundationandpreconditionforefficientwastemanagement.Inthispaper,wasteclassificationsystemsinChina,theEU,JapanandtheUSAarereviewedforcollection,transportationandtreatmentsectors.Comparisonanalysisresultsshowthatwasteclassificationmethodsarediversifiedandprocess-orientedclassification,substance-orientedandhazardouspropertiesclassificationprinciplesarewidelyadoptedforwastegenerationandtransportation.Forwastetreatmentprocess,allthecountriesandregionsadoptsimilarclassificationmethodsbasedonfollow-uptreatmentprocess.Ingeneral,theEUandJapanallhaveestablishedtheirownintegratedwasteclassificationsystem.However,theEU’smacro–microintegrationwasteclassificationsystemsaremoresuitableforChinatolearnwhichprocess-orientedwasteclassificationisusedfordeclarationandregistrationatthemicro-levelandsubstance-orientedwasteclassificationsystemforenvironmentalstatisticsatthemacro-level.Keywords:Wasteclassification;Process-oriented;Source-oriented;Hazardousproperty;EnvironmentalmanagementIntroductionInChina,wastemeansarticlesandsubstancesinsolid,semi-solid,orgaseousstateincontainersthataretheresultofproduction,livingandotheractivitiesandhavelosttheiroriginalusevaluesorarediscardedorabandonedthoughhaven’tyetlostusevalues,andarticlesandsubstancesthatareincludedintothemanagementofsolidwastesuponthestrengthofadministrativeregulations[1].Althoughdefinitionsofwasteandwhatfallsintowastecategoriesamongdifferentcountriesorregionshaveslightdifferences,wasteandwastemanagementhavebecomesignificantglobalissuesandcommonchallengesthatweface.Efficientandeffectivewastemanagementisanessentialpartofcivilizedsociety.Integratedwastemanagementmayincludesourceseparation,collection,transportationandtreatmentactivities.Amongtheactivitiesofwastemanagement,oneofthemostimportantissuesiswasteclassification.Wasteclassificationistheprocessbywhichwasteisassignedtooneormoreclassesbasedonitsproperties,characteristics,componentsorotherproperties.Mostcountriesandregionshavedevelopedtheirownwasteclassificationsystems.AlthoughdifferentwasteclassificationsystemsexistintheEU,Japan,theUSAandChina,thereisoneworldwideusedclassification,namely,theBaselConventionincludingclassificationforhazardouswasteandnonhazardouswaste[2].Wastemanagementpracticescandifferfordevelopedanddevelopingnations.Agoodwasteclassificationsystemisthefoundationandpreconditionforefficientwastemanagement.Whenhazardouswasteistransportedwithinacountry,itwillbeaccompaniedbyahazardouswastetransfermanifestwithwastecodes.Chinafacesgreatchallengesonwastemanagementduetomassivewastesthankstothecountry’sfastdevelopment,massproductionandconsumption.ComprehensivewasteclassificationsystemsinChinahavenotbeendevelopedyet.Imperfectclassificationsystemshaveresultedinaseriesofmanagementproblems,forexample,thereexistsablindzoneinregulationsforsomenewemergingwasteswhicharenotcoveredbythecurrentclassificationsystemandenvironmentalstatisticsdatacannotreflecttherealsituation.Itis,therefore,necessarytoconductcomprehensiveresearchonwasteclassificationsystemsbasedonenvironmentalmanagement.Inthispaper,wasteclassificationprinciplesandsystemsfromtypicaldevelopedcountriesandregionssuchastheEU,JapanandtheUSAforwastegeneration,transportationandtreatmentarereviewedandanalyzed.RelevantrecommendationsonimprovingChina’swasteclassificationsystemsareproposedbasedoncomparisonanalysisbetweenChinaandtheEU,Japan,andtheUSA.WasteclassificationprinciplesThefollowingprinciplesarefundamentaltothedesignandimplementationofwasteclassification:systematicness,hierarchy,practicalmaneuverabilityandexpansibility.Systematicnessmeansthatthewholewasteclassificationsystemisanintegrationmanagementframework.Hierarchyreferstoaseriesofoptionsfordealingwithwasteaccordingtotheirenvironmentalrisks.Practicalmaneuverabilitymeansthatthewasteclassificationsystemcanprovideauserfriendlytoolforwastegenerators,recyclersandenvironmentalmanagers.Goodexpansibilitymeansthatthewasteclassificationsystemcanadapttochangesandkeeprelativeconstancy.Wasteclassificationsystemsmaycontainmulti-layerlevelsaccordingtomanagementpractices.Inthispaper,wasteclassificationsystemsbetweenclassificationswereanalyzedfrommacro-levelandmicro-level.Themacro-levelreferstowasteclassifiedbymacroindustrialstructuresorenvironmentalrisksormanagementresponsibilitiesofstateadministrativeorganizations.Whilethemicro-levelisthedetailedclassificationsystemunderthemacro-levelandusedfordailyenvironmentalmanagementforwastegenerators,suchasdeclarationandregistration,andwastetransportation.ComparisononwasteclassificationbetweenChinaandtheEU,Japan,andtheUSA1.Forwasteclassificationatthemacro-level,China,theEU,JapanandtheUSAallclassifywastebasedongenerationsourceand/orhazardouscharacteristics.Theadvantageslieinthefactthatitisveryeasytodistinguishcorrespo