Collection - the gathering of waste, including the preliminary sorting and preliminary storage of waste for the purposes of transport to a waste treatment facility.
Separate collection - the collection where a waste stream is kept separately by type and nature so as to facilitate a specific treatment.
Recovery - any waste management operation that diverts a waste material from the waste stream and which results in a certain product with a potential economic or ecological benefit. Recovery mainly refers to the following operations:
Material recovery, i.e. recycling,
Energy recovery, i.e. re-use a fuel,
Biological recovery, e.g. composting,
Re-use.
Disposal - any waste management operation serving or carrying out the final treatment and disposal of waste:
Final treatment:
Incineration,
Biological, physical, chemical treatment resulting in products or residues that are discarded, i.e. going to final disposal.
Final disposal:
Deposit into or onto land (e.g. landfill), including specially engineered landfill,
Deep injection,
Surface impoundment,
Release into water bodies,
Permanent storage.