SIST-TP CEN/TR 15310-5:2007

SLOVENSKI STANDARD
01-april-2007
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Characterization of waste - Sampling of waste materials - Part 5: Guidance on the
process of defining the sampling plan
Charakterisierung von Abfall - Probenahme - Teil 5: Verfahren zur Aufstellung eines
Probenahmeplans
Caractérisation des déchets - Prélevement des déchets - Partie 5 : Guide relatif au
processus d'élaboration d'un plan d'échantillonnage
Ta slovenski standard je istoveten z: CEN/TR 15310-5:2006
ICS:
13.030.10 Trdni odpadki Solid wastes
13.030.20 7HNRþLRGSDGNL%ODWR Liquid wastes. Sludge
2003-01.Slovenski inštitut za standardizacijo. Razmnoževanje celote ali delov tega standarda ni dovoljeno.

TECHNICAL REPORT
CEN/TR 15310-5
RAPPORT TECHNIQUE
TECHNISCHER BERICHT
November 2006
ICS 13.030.10; 13.030.20
English Version
Characterization of waste - Sampling of waste materials - Part 5:
Guidance on the process of defining the sampling plan
Caractérisation des déchets - Prélèvement des déchets - Charakterisierung von Abfall - Probenahme - Teil 5:
Partie 5 : Guide relatif au processus d'élaboration d'un plan Verfahren zur Aufstellung eines Probenahmeplans
d'échantillonnage
This Technical Report was approved by CEN on 21 February 2006. It has been drawn up by the Technical Committee CEN/TC 292.
CEN members are the national standards bodies of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France,
Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania,
Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and United Kingdom.
EUROPEAN COMMITTEE FOR STANDARDIZATION
COMITÉ EUROPÉEN DE NORMALISATION
EUROPÄISCHES KOMITEE FÜR NORMUNG
Management Centre: rue de Stassart, 36  B-1050 Brussels
© 2006 CEN All rights of exploitation in any form and by any means reserved Ref. No. CEN/TR 15310-5:2006: E
worldwide for CEN national Members.

Contents
Foreword.3
Introduction .4
1 Scope .7
2 Normative references .7
3 Terms and definitions .7
4 The process of defining the Sampling Plan.10
4.1 General description of the process .10
4.2 Identification of involved parties.12
4.3 Establishing the objective of the testing programme.14
4.4 Strategic choices in deriving the technical goals from the objective.15
4.5 Checklist for the project manager.29
4.6 Further steps to be taken by the project manager.30
Annex A Examples of sampling plans for specific situations .31
A.1 Characterization of predominant aluminium content objects from the sorting of
household and related waste .31
A.2 Basic characterisation and compliance testing of waste from a continuous production
process .33
A.3 Contaminated soil to be possibly land filled and to be tested as granular waste for basic
characterisation .37
A.4 Zinc concentrate to be tested as granular waste for basic characterisation and
compliance testing .40
Bibliography .42

Foreword
This Technical Report (CEN/TR 15310-5:2006) has been prepared by Technical Committee CEN/TC 292
“Characterization of waste”, the secretariat of which is held by NEN.
This Technical Report has been prepared under a mandate given to CEN by the European Commission and
the European Free Trade Association.
This Technical Report is one of a series of five Technical Reports dealing with sampling techniques and
procedures, and provides essential information and instructions for the application of the EN-standard:
EN 14899 Characterisation of waste - Sampling of waste materials - Framework for the preparation and
application of a Sampling Plan.
The principal component of the EN Standard is the mandatory requirement to prepare a Sampling Plan. This
EN 14899 standard can be used to:
 produce standardised sampling plans for use in regular or routine circumstances (i.e. the elaboration of
daughter/derived standards dedicated to well defined sampling scenarios);
 incorporate specific sampling requirements into national legislation;
 design and develop a Sampling Plan on a case by case basis.
The Technical Reports display a range of potential approaches and tools to enable the project manager to
tailor his sampling plan to a specific testing scenario (i.e. a ‘shop shelf’ approach to sampling plan
development for waste testing). This approach allows flexibility in the selection of the sampling approach,
sampling point, method of sampling and equipment used.
In practice, confusion can arise when translating the objective of the testing programme, which is often
couched at a relative abstract level (e.g. ‘the waste needs to be assessed to fulfil the demands of waste
regulation’) into an unambiguous technical instruction in the Sampling Plan, that will provide data to meet that
objective (e.g. ‘the mean concentration of each truck load should comply with a specified concentration level’).
This Technical Report attempts to clarify the ‘grey area’ between the definition of an overall testing objectives
and the definition of the practical Sampling Plan. It specifically provides guidance on the policy aspects that
may be relevant for defining the objective of the testing programme, and how this will define the technical
methods that can be used to prepare the Sampling Plan.
Introduction
Wastes are materials, which the holder discards, or intends or is required to discard, and which may be sent
for final disposal, reuse or recovery. Such materials are generally heterogeneous and it will be necessary
therefore to specify in the testing programme the amount of material for which the characteristics of interest
need to be defined. The testing of wastes allows informed decisions to be made on how they should be
treated (or not), recovered or disposed. In order to undertake valid tests, some sampling of the waste is
required.
The principal component of the standard EN 14899 is the mandatory requirement to prepare a Sampling Plan,
within the framework of an overall testing programme as illustrated in Figure 1 of EN 14899:2005. This
standard can be used to:
 produce standardised sampling plans for use in regular or routine circumstances (i.e. the elaboration of
daughter/derived standards dedicated to well defined sampling scenarios);
 incorporate specific sampling requirements into national legislation;
 design and develop a Sampling Plan on a case by case basis.
The development of a Sampling Plan within this framework involves the progression through three steps or
activities.
1) Define the Sampling Plan;
2) Take a field sample in accordance with the Sampling Plan;
3) Transport the laboratory sample to the laboratory.
This Technical Report provides information to support Key Step 1 of the Sampling Plan process map and
describes the selection of sampling approach that can be used in the recovery of a sample for a wide variety
of waste types and arisings. Specifically CEN/TR 15310-1 provides information to support 4.2.7 (select
sampling approach) of the Framework Standard. Due consideration and selection of statistical criteria is of key
importance in the production of a Sampling Plan as it provides the sole means of ensuring that, wherever
possible, the type and number of samples taken will address a clearly identified objective and will provide
results that achieve a tolerable level of reliability.
In the process of defining the Sampling Plan (step 1 in Figure 1 of EN 14899:2005), the objective of the testing
programme is translated into specific and concrete technical instructions for the sampler. Using these
instructions the sampler will take the type and number of samples that are adequate to meet the objective of
the testing programme, ultimately providing the decision maker with the required information on the waste
material under investigation.
The process of defining the Sampling Plan, which takes into consideration both policy and technical
requirements to produce technical instructions to the sampler, is therefore a fundamental step in sampling of a
waste material.
In practice, problems arise when translating the objective of the testing programme, which is couched at a
relative abstract level (e.g. ‘the waste needs to be assessed to fulfil the demands of waste regulation’) into a
technical instruction that corresponds with that same objective (e.g. ‘the mean concentration of each truck
load should comply with a specified concentration level’). There is a ‘gap’ between the definition of the need to
evaluate the waste material and the technical methods that should be applied in order to make an adequate
evaluation possible.
This Technical Report aims to ‘bridge the gap’ between the chosen objective of the testing programme in
policy terms, and that same objective defined in technical terms for sampling. It provides information and
guidance on the process of defining a Sampling Plan. It deals specifically with the policy aspects relevant for
defining the objective of the testing programme, and provides guidance for the definition of the Sampling Plan.
In addition to the main body of the Technical Report, an annex provides worked examples of Sampling Plans
for a number of frequently occurring waste materials and situations in which these waste materials arise.
Thereby the examples provide background to the main body of this Technical Report.
These examples clarify the process of defining the Sampling Plan. A number of assumptions have been made
to produce each individual example, and therefore – although the examples represent actual daily practice –
they are case specific and are not necessarily directly applicable to other similar generic situations.
This Technical Report is written for two distinctive groups of users:
 policy makers involved in sampling. For example, people working for the central, regional or local
authority, government or administration, the management of a company involved in the production or
disposal of waste, etc. Essentially, these people are, directly or indirectly, involved in making policy
decisions that are based on the technical information gathered through sampling. Their interest lies in the
requirement for testing a waste material to gain (general) knowledge about the waste material or to
comply to national, regional or local legislation. They have – in general – no technical knowledge of
sampling, but are responsible for making the right choices. They therefore need help to understand the
definition of the testing programme in technical terms, in order to be able to judge if the suggested testing
programme is adequate for the purpose.
 sampling specialists (specifically the project manager). These are the people who have to translate the
objective of the testing programme, as defined by the policy maker, into a technically unambiguous
Sampling Plan that will instruct the sampler on what to do in the field. The project manager is therefore
confronted with the problem that not only technical information is necessary for the definition of the
Sampling Plan, but also policy information.
Incorporated within the text of this Technical Report is an example. Each individual step of the process of
defining the Sampling Plan made in this Technical Report is illustrated by the same step in this example. The
example is meant to clarify the text of the individual paragraphs in more practical terms.
Example of a waste to be tested
Due to the incineration of residuals from paper production, filter dust is collected. The dust is trapped in an air
filter unit and put into stockpiles before transport to the landfill. In order to allow land filling, the concentrations
of a number of key constituents should comply with the acceptance criteria of that landfill. Therefore the waste
must be sampled.
This Technical Report should be read in conjunction with the Framework Standard for the preparation and
application of a Sampling Plan as well as the other Technical Reports that contain essential information to
support the Framework Standard. The full series comprises:
− EN 14899 Characterization of waste - Sampling of waste materials - Framework for the preparation and
application of a Sampling Plan;
− CEN/TR 15310-1, Characterization of waste – Sampling of waste materials – Part 1: Guidance on
selection and application of criteria for sampling under various conditions;
− CEN/TR 15310-2, Characterization of waste – Sampling of waste materials – Part 2: Guidance on
sampling techniques;
− CEN/TR 15310-3, Characterization of waste – Sampling of waste materials – Part 3: Guidance on
procedures for sub-sampling in the field;
− CEN/TR 15310-4, Characterization of waste – Sampling of waste materials – Part 4: Guidance on
procedures for sample packaging, storage, preservation, transport and delivery;
CEN/TR 15310-5, Characterization of waste – Sampling of waste materials – Part 5: Guidance on the
process of defining the Sampling Plan.
The Technical Reports contain procedural options (as detailed in Figure 2 of EN 14899:2005) that can be
selected to match the sampling requirements of any testing programme.
1 Scope
This Technical Report provides guidance on process of defining of a Sampling Plan based on the objective of
the testing programme. It specifically deals with the strategic decisions that are needed, based on the
sampling objective.
NOTE 1 Given the great variety of waste types, sampling situations and objectives, this Technical Report cannot
provide definitive instructions that cover all scenarios. Instead, it discusses the basic statistical approach to be followed,
and provides statistical tools that can be applied to determine the amount and type of sampling (e.g. number of samples
and sample size) in any given situation to achieve results of adequate reliability (i.e. precision and confidence).
NOTE 2 The document provides considerable detail on current best practice, but is not exhaustive.
NOTE 3 To clarify the text, the document provides a number of worked examples.
2 Normative references
The following referenced documents are indispensable for the application of this document. For dated
references, only the edition cited applies. For undated references, the latest edition of the referenced
document (including any amendments) applies.
EN 13965-1:2004, Characterization of waste - Terminology - Part 1: Material related terms and definitions
EN 13965-2:2004, Characterization of waste - Terminology - Part 2: Management related terms and
definitions
3 Terms and definitions
For the purposes of this Technical Report, the following terms and definitions given in EN 13965-1:2004 and
EN 13965-2:2004 and the following apply.
3.1
background information
information that is essential to understanding the setting of sampling
NOTE Among others, it consists of information on the production process of the waste, the nature of the waste, policy
aspects and compliance levels set in legislation.
3.2
basic characterisation
sampling that has the goal to describe the character or quality of a population of waste
3.3
compliance testing
process of testing whether sample values meet a pre-defined set of criteria
3.4
composite sample
two or more increments mixed together in appropriate portions either discretely or continuously (blended
composite sample), from which the average value of a discrete characteristic may be obtained
[ISO 11074:2005]
3.5
confidence interval
interval within which the value of a particular population parameter may be stated to lie at a specific
confidence level. The bounds of the confidence interval are termed the upper and lower confidence limits
3.6
confidence level
value 100(1-α) of the percentage probability associated with a confidence interval (after ISO 3534-1)
3.7
constituent
an essential part (component, element) of the waste
3.8
decision maker
party that makes a decision based on the results of the testing programme
NOTE In most cases the regulator is the decision maker, but it can also be the waste producer or waste manager.
3.9
field sample
quantity (mass or volume) of material obtained through sampling without any sub-sampling
3.10
increment
individual portion of material collected by a single operation of a sampling device which will not be analysed /
investigated as a single entity, but will be mixed with other increments in a composite sample prior to analysis
3.11
involved parties
individuals who have an interest in the results of the sampling and who should therefore be involved in the
(iterative) process relating to the exchange of information regarding the testing programme
3.12
laboratory analyst
person conducting the analysis of the laboratory sample
3.13
laboratory sample
sample sent to or received by the laboratory (IUPAC)
3.14
legislator
body responsible for the definition of the rules that should be obeyed
3.15
objective
underlying motivation for investigating a (potential) waste material
3.16
on-site verification
normally simple test to evaluate if the involved waste material is indeed the type of material expected
3.17
overall population
totality of items
3.18
population
totality of items under consideration
[ISO 3534-1]
3.19
policy maker
person working for the central, regional or local authority, government or administration, the management of a
company
3.20
project manager
person who is responsible for deriving and / or fulfilling the testing programme
3.21
regulator
body responsible for controlling if the rules of the legislator are met
3.22
reliability
extent to which a test measures consistently
NOTE For scaled scores, a reliability coefficient of 1.00 indicates a test that is perfectly reliable.
3.23
sample
portion of material selected from a larger quantity of material
[ISO 11074:2005]
NOTE The use of the term ‘sample’ should be avoided as far as possible as it does not imply to what step of the total
sampling procedure it is related.
3.24
sampler
person carrying out the sampling procedures at the sampling locality
[ISO 11074:2005]
NOTE Tools and devices to obtain samples are sometimes also referred to as ‘samplers’. In this case it is
recommended to write ‘sampling devices’ or ‘sampling equipment’.
3.25
sampling plan
predetermined procedure for the selection, withdrawal, preservation, transportation and preparation of the
portions to be removed from a population as a sample
[ISO 11074:2005]
3.26
scale
quantity (mass or volume), defined in space and / or time, of material represented by the sample and
considered relevant for the assessment of the material
3.27
sub-population
defined part of a population
[ISO 3534-1]
3.28
technical goals
objective translated into specific, measurable, action oriented, realistic, timely (SMART) goals
3.29
testing programme
total sampling operation, from the first step in which the objectives of sampling are defined to the last step in
which data is analysed against the objectives
3.30
waste
material, which the holder discards, or intends or is required to discard, and which may be sent for final
disposal, reuse or recovery
3.31
waste manager
company or organisation that accepts the waste
3.32
waste producer
company or organisation that produces the waste
4 The process of defining the Sampling Plan
4.1 General description of the process
The project manager is responsible for the process, which defines the Sampling Plan. The first step is to
identify the parties that have an interest in the results of the sampling and to ensure their full participation.
The involved parties come from various backgrounds and may have conflicting interests. Supported by the
project manager, they must reach agreement on the objective of the testing programme, the translation of this
objective into realistic technical goals and the translation of these technical goals into unambiguous
instructions for the sampler. The project manager then records these instructions in the Sampling Plan.
The objective of the testing programme determines, directly or indirectly, the desired level of information
(e.g. basic characterization, compliance testing or on-site verification) and the desired reliability of the
sampling results.
Technical goals include statistical terms like the characteristic to be determined (e.g. a percentile value), the
population, the scale, the confidence level and confidence interval to be reached and technical terms like the
constituents of the waste that are to be determined; the moment when; or location where; the waste will be
sampled. Therefore part of these technical goals provide direct input for the Sampling Plan, while others (e.g.
the scale, the confidence level) still have to be translated into practical terms like the type of sampling, the
sampling pattern and location, the number of increments and samples and the sizes of increments and
samples.
Commonly, the reliability of the results improves when the number of samples is increased. This invariably
leads to higher sampling and analysis costs. In short, the heterogeneous character of waste invokes the
necessity to balance the desired reliability with the financial input. In fact, balancing the reliability and costs,
may well be the most important decision the involved parties have to make in the process of defining a
Sampling Plan.
A draft of the Sampling Plan should be discussed with all involved parties. By doing so, the practical
implications of the choices that were made in the process of defining and translating the objectives become
clear. For practical reasons, unrealistic objectives may be subject to change.
The process of defining the Sampling Plan may well be an iterative process that is repeated several times
before it results in an accepted final version of the Sampling Plan. The project manager should actively
manage this process.
The process of defining the Sampling Plan is provided in Figure 1.
Strategic Aspects Normative Steps
Technical Report 5 EN-XXX
Identification of involved parties 5.2
Legislator 5.2.1
Regulator 5.2.2
Identify involved parties 4.2.1
Waste Producer / Waste Manager 5.2.3
Sampler / Analyst / other Executives 5.2.4
Identify objectives and define
Establishing objective of testing programme 5.3
technical goals 4.2.2
Determine generic level of
Strategic choices in deriving the technical
testing required (with reference
goals from the objective 5.4
to objectives) 4.2.3
Selecting constituent to be studied 5.4.1
Identify constituents to be
Defining population and sub-population 5.4.2
tested 4.2.4
Scale of sampling 5.4.3
Research background
information on waste 4.2.5
Identify Health and Safety
precautions 4.2.6
Select sampling approach
Choosing the desired reliability of sampling
Identify type of sampling
results 5.4.4
probabilistic vs. judgemental
4.2.7
Checklist for the Project Manager 5.5
Identify most appropriate
sampling technique to address
Further steps to be taken by the Project
sampling requirements 4.2.8
Manager 5.6
Document the Sampling Plan
NO
Agreement of all
involved parties
YES
Undertake sampling in
accordance with Sampling Plan
Figure 1 – The process of defining the Sampling Plan, providing information on the elements that are
specified in the European Standard and this Technical Report
4.2 Identification of involved parties
4.2.1 General
It is the responsibility of the project manager to identify parties with an interest in the results of sampling and
actually involve them in the decision process that is required to define the Sampling Plan. The involved parties
are at a minimum the owners, users or buyers of waste and, directly or indirectly, the legislation to which the
testing programme is related. Additionally, the project manager himself is also an involved party. The involved
parties come from differing backgrounds and may have conflicting interests. Not all involved parties are easy
to access. However, not all parties need to be personally represented.
The legislator in particular will not be involved directly. The requirements of the legislator are usually defined
in policy documents or directives. The regulator may be involved, but the level of involvement will be decided
by the regulator on a case-by-case basis, for example based on an evaluation of the risks that legislation is
breached.
Identification of involved parties is not always easy. The same person that has more than one role may
represent some parties (for example, in simple sampling programmes the client and sampler or regulator and
legislator may be the same person. Furthermore, parties may not be aware that sampling is about to
commence or may not understand the effects that sampling results could have on their situation. Failing to get
input from all parties in the definition of the Sampling Plan may lead to resistance and loss of time in later
phases of the testing programme.
The following roles can be distinguished in almost every testing programme:
 the legislator;
 the regulator;
 the company or organisation that produces the waste (waste producer);
 the company or organisation that accepts the waste (waste manager);
 the project manager and related personnel and organisations (like the sampler and the laboratory analyst).
Example: Identification of the involved parties
In the example, the waste originating from the incineration of residuals of paper production, might only be
brought to the landfill if it meets the compliance levels defined for that landfill and specific waste.
In the example it is assumed that the regional government has defined compliance levels and can be seen as
the legislator. In the involved country a generic Sampling Plan developed for sampling of heaps of
homogeneous wastes is available and accepted for this type of waste material. So the national government
may also be seen as an involved legislator. The responsibility for complying with the legislation is in this
example however a responsibility of the regional government. The regional government therefore can be seen
as the regulator. Other involved parties are the waste producer, the owner of the landfill and an independent
consulting firm that is responsible for the sampling. The project manager is an employee of the consulting firm.
Before sampling the project manager directly consults the waste producer and the owner of the landfill.
Directions on sampling are provided in the generic Sampling Plan, whilst more specific conditions are defined
in both regional policy documents as well as in the contract for dumping this waste in the specified landfill.
Therefore the legislator is involved indirectly.

Legislator: the body responsible for the definition of the rules that should be obeyed.
Regulator: the body responsible for controlling if the rules of the legislator are met.
The regional government is aware of this waste stream to the landfill. The regulator can check the process
when desired. The regulator is therefore not directly involved but decides if and when the land filling process
will be checked.
4.2.2 Legislator
In most cases, the legislator will be the European Commission, the national, regional or local government.
However, company management can also have the role of legislator. A combination of legislators is therefore
possible.
In case of international buying and selling of waste, the objectives of national legislation, European legislation
and company management may all have to be included in the definition of the objective of the testing
programme.
4.2.3 Regulator
Most legislation authorises a regulator to base a decision on either the sampling results provided by the waste
producer and / or buyer of the waste, or allow independent sampling by the regulator.
In complex situations, there may be several regulators (as many as there are legislators).
Example: multiple parties involved as regulator
The waste producer and the results of do the actual testing of the paper waste incineration dust that testing
are delivered at the landfill together with the waste by the waste producer.
In addition to the testing results delivered by the waste producer, the owner of the landfill checks the waste
periodically in order to check if the waste still complies with the specifications provided by the waste producer
(not in a legislative definition of regulator, but self regulation).
In addition the regional government is the formal regulator from the perspective of the national and regional
legislation. Thus, in this example, two of the involved parties act as regulator.
The regulator (but also other parties) could make demands on the quality, involvement and responsibilities of
other parties like sampler and laboratory. Also, the legislator can prescribe procedures to safeguard the
quality of sampling. These type of demands normally result in demands on certification or accreditation of the
companies and / or personnel involved in the testing programme; see also 4.2.5.
4.2.4 Waste producer and waste manager
The companies or organisations that produce and accept the waste have important interests in the outcome of
the testing programme and should therefore be involved in the definition the objective of the testing
programme and the translation of this objective into the Sampling Plan.
The waste producer and waste manager may well have conflicting interest but early discussion may resolve
these or at least allow a negotiated compromise, well before committing time and resources to the testing
programme.
Often the project manager is employed by one of these parties but in either case this does not imply that the
waste producer or waste manager is the final decision maker.
4.2.5 Sampler, laboratory analyst and other executives
The involved parties may also make demands concerning the quality of the parties that conduct the sampling
and subsequent analysis of the samples. For example, by a system of certification or accreditation of sampler
and analyst.
Example: Certification or accreditation
Member state A has determined on a national level that all waste sampling shall be done by an organisation
that complies with a defined accreditation programme for the sampling of waste.
Recognised best practice is for the project manager to select the sampler, laboratory and other executives at
an early stage of Sampling Plan development. In many cases, these involved parties have practical comments
that improve the quality of the testing programme or positively influence the way the sampling should be
conducted.
4.3 Establishing the objective of the testing programme
In order to make sure that the testing programme is adequate, the underlying motivation for investigating a
(potential) waste material must be clearly defined: what is the objective of the testing programme?
The objective of the testing programme can partly or fully consist of pre-conditions by international, national,
regional or local legislation or regulation, however the waste producer or waste manager may also contribute
to the objective setting process.
Examples of possible objectives of a testing programme are:
 to check the quality because of a change in ownership of the waste material (is this the type of waste we
expect it to be?);
 to determine the (re) usability of the (waste) material;
 to assess the human health and / or environmental risks posed by the material;
 to determine the precautions that should be taken when the waste is disposed of in a landfill;
 etc.
The examples above provide objectives that are defined in very general terms. Basically, this type of objective
provides no specific direction on how to evaluate the waste through sampling and analysis, as these
objectives are couched to answer general policy issues.
The objective might also be defined in somewhat more technical terms like:
 the necessity to compare the quality of the waste material with quality levels defined in national and
international legislation (does the waste meet the compliance levels?);
 to determine the leaching of substances from the material;
 etc.
Although the latter objectives are defined in technical terms and as such have a closer link to the actual
sampling, there is still no technical specification available from these objectives that will allow the definition of
an unambiguous Sampling Plan. The deduction of the Sampling Plan from the objective is discussed in 4.4.
It is important that all involved parties reach agreement about the objective.
Example situation
Due to the incineration of residuals from paper production, filter dust is collected. The dust is trapped in an air
filter unit and put into stockpiles before transport to the landfill. In order to allow land filling, the concentrations
of a number of key constituents should comply with the acceptance criteria of that landfill. Transport to the
landfill happens when 30 t of dust is gathered. The stockpile is readily accessible from a hard standing.
The objective of the testing programme is to define whether the composition of the filter dust fulfils the criteria
that are set for the acceptance of waste on the landfill. These acceptance criteria are formulated in light of the
protective measures taken in the construction of the landfill and as such are aimed at protecting the
environment – specifically groundwater quality – around the landfill.
4.4 Strategic choices in deriving the technical goals from the objective
4.4.1 General
As stated in 4.3, the objective of the testing programme defines what the involved parties want to achieve by
investigating the waste material. In order to investigate the waste, samples should be gathered. For
appropriate sampling the analytical results obtained from samples have to be adequate in light of the objective.
Therefore, the sampling operation for obtaining these samples should be planned in detail. The detailed
planning of the sampling operation and technical specifications for the sampling are formalised in the
Sampling Plan.
In deriving the Sampling Plan, the original objective has to be translated in one or more technical goals. The
relation between the testing programme, the objective, the technical goals and the Sampling Plan are depicted
in Figure 2.
Example: Specifying instructions in the Sampling Plan by defining the technical goals of the objective
The objective ‘compare the quality of the waste with quality levels as defined in legislation’ has to be
translated into technical goals like ‘measure the pH and cadmium content of the waste’. In the Sampling Plan,
technical goals (e.g. measurement of the pH) are translated into concrete instructions to the sampler. For
instance by specifying the amount of sample to be taken and the necessary conservation measures for
determining the pH.
The technical goals in this example are to take an adequate amount of waste material and conserve its
characteristics by using an adequate sample container. In the Sampling Plan the term ‘adequate’ as used in
these technical goals are replaced by actually stating the necessary amount of waste material (e.g. 1 kg) and
prescription of the type of sample container (e.g. dark glass and air tight).
Note that one testing programme may often have more than one objective. In principle, each individual
objective will result in a different Sampling Plan because the technical specifications for the necessary
samples and the quality level to be achieved will vary between the different objectives. As a result it might be
necessary to define more than one Sampling Plan to fulfil all objectives of the testing programme.
Example: Situation where the testing programme has more than one objective
Due to a fire in a nearby factory, on a specific moment the stockpile of filter dust might contain asbestos. Apart
from regular sampling to determine the constituents relevant for land filling the filter dust waste, the testing
programme now has a second objective that is to determine if there is indeed asbestos present in the waste.
The latter obviously requires an approach, which considers stratified or hot spot sampling and therefore two
different Sampling Plans will have to be defined.
The fact that there are two different Sampling Plans does not imply that the necessary sampling cannot take
place at the same time.
Testing
Programme
Objective 1 Objective 2 Objective N
Technical Goal Technical Goal Technical Goal
1 2 N
Sampling Plan Sampling Plan Sampling Plan
1 2 N
Figure 2 – Translation of objectives into technical goals and instructions in the Sampling Plan
 the technical goals are related to the following elements of the Sampling Plan ,
 constituents to be studied (4.4.2);
 the population that is represented by the sampling results (4.4.3);
 the desired reliability of the results (4.4.5);
 statistical parameter to be determined;
 choice of sampling methodology (probabilistic or judgemental);
 adequate sampling technique;
 sample pre-treatment;
 etc.
4.4.2 Selecting constituents to be studied
The selection of constituents starts with an inventory of constituents that are raised in relevant legislation. The
constituents identified by legislation are often a reflection of their potential to cause human, environmental and
economic risks. Background data on the waste may also identify further relevant constituents.

Not all technical goals need to be discussed with (all) the involved parties. Choosing the constituents to be studied,
defining the population and scale of sampling and choosing the desired reliability of the sampling results are most
important because these choices influence to a large extent the efficiency and effectivity of the testing programme.
Example: Selection of constituents
In the example it is assumed that specific quality criteria are set for waste acceptance at landfill, based on a
LS 10 (liquid to solid ratio 1: 10) leaching test. It defines compliance levels for 13 components and
characteristics: Ag, As, Ba, Cd, Co, Cu, Cr, Hg, Ni, Zn, PAH (sum) and TOC.
Based on prior information TOC, Pb and Cu are to be considered as 'critical', since the 95-percentile value of
earlier analyses (mean concentration for a stockpile) show these parameters exceed the compliance levels.
Thus in the example the statistical definition of 'critical' is that there is more than 5 % probability that the mean
concentration of a constituent in a stockpile will exceed the compliance level.
Background information about the composition and production process that leads to the production of the
waste can be crucial in selecting the constituents to be studied.
Example: Background information
Different types of background information are available for the waste. There is technical information on the
production process and input materials. There is also numerical information obtained from a previous basic
characterisation as well as previous compliance testing.
Non-numerical information, in addition to the description of the example situation as given in 4.3, is that the
annual capacity of the combustion operator amounts to 287.000 t of paper waste. This results in
approximately 13.000 t of filter dust per year (600 waste movements a year). Around 60 % of the filter dust is
destined for land filling; the rest is reused in cement industry.
Compositional data from periodic basic characterisation provides information that the components that are to
be considered as ‘critical’ are TOC, Pb and Cu. From earlier basic characterisation and compliance testing the
content of TOC in the last 4 years ranges from 2.775 up to 34.470 mg/kg. The mean of the TOC was 12.568
mg/kg. For Pb the mean concentration is 118 mg/kg with a standard deviation of 63 mg/kg. For Cu the mean
concentration is 400 mg/kg with a standard deviation of 44 mg/kg. These types of data are required as a basis
for determining requirements for any future sampling programme.
4.4.3 Defining population and sub-populations
4.4.3.1 General
The population is the total amount of material that we want to obtain information on by sampling.
In its most simple form, the population is a container, stockpile or lorry of waste. In this case identifying the
population in terms of space and time is simple. But, where a production process results in a continuous
stream of waste identifying the population is less straightforward. For example, the population might be the
amount of waste that is produced in a continuous production process. To define the population in this case,
the involved parties must specify the time period of production. The population might thus be defined as the
amount of waste produced at a certain place in a year, month, week or other period. Additionally, this implies
that the part of the waste produced outside the specified period also needs to be defined. For this purpose the
term ‘overall population’ is used; describing the total quantity of material produced.
Depending on the objective of the testing programme and the available resources, the involved parties will
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