Reasearch Question Annotated Sources

1. What classifies waste as being beneficial?
Link 1
This website explains how some waste may be considered to be beneficial. The state of Virginia is actually taking initiative to remove the name waste for all waste that is beneficial and can be reused.
Standards have been set to determine whether waste can be beneficial or not.

To be beneficial waste has to be useful of course. Here is a list of waste that is beneficial:

"Nonhazardous petroleum contaminated soil which has been treated to the satisfaction of the department in accordance with 9VAC20-80-700;

(6) Nonhazardous petroleum contaminated soil when incorporated into asphalt pavement products;

(7) Solid wastes which are approved in advance of the placement, in writing, by the department or which are specifically mentioned in the facility permit for use as daily cover material or other protective materials for landfill liner or final cover system components;

(8) Fossil fuel combustion products when used as a material in the manufacturing of another product (e.g., concrete, concrete products, lightweight aggregate, roofing materials, plastics, paint, flowable fill) or as a substitute for a product or material resource (e.g., blasting grit, roofing granules, filter cloth precoat for sludge dewatering, pipe bedding);

(9) Waste tire chips when used as a subbase fill for road base materials or asphalt pavements when approved by the Virginia Department of Transportation or by a local governing body;

(10) Waste tires used in the production of commercial products such as mats, pavement sealers, playground surfaces, brake pads, blasting mats, and other rubberized commercial products;

(11) Waste tire chips when used as backfill in landfill gas or leachate collection pipes, recirculation lines, and drainage material in landfill liner and cover systems, and gas interception or remediation applications."

This is just a short list of all the waste that can be beneficial.

2.

http://www.depweb.state.pa.us/landrecwaste/lib/landrecwaste/municipal_waste/GP/WMGM011.pdf

This website discusses how construction waste from construction site can actually be turned into mulch and used as a soil additive. Also, the materials that are usually wasted at a construction site have different minerals that are able to leach in soil.