An analytical laboratory scheme has been designed specifically to support the rapid and cost effective characterization of complex hazardous waste materials. Rapid analysis includes “compatibility” testing of the gross characteristics of the material, identification and quantitation of metals, and the identification and semi-quantitation of organic compounds in water, soil, sludge, and organic matrixes. Organic compounds can be screened by gas chromatography and characterized by halogen or nonhalogen content. The former includes poly(chlorinated biphenyls) (PCBs), which are quantitated using a novel basic computer program. Other halogenated compounds are identified using gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) with the aid of a halogen isotope cluster survey program. Nonhalogenated compounds are identified by fingerprint chromatograms or searching the GC/MS spectral library.