The aim of this research is to provide an interdisciplinary method for determining the status of waste. The methodological framework is based on the scope definition of the unit of analysis and an analysis grid. The methodological framework is tested in a case study: the lifecycle of post-consumer paper in Switzerland. The preliminary results show that the post-consumer paper quickly has the status of non-hazardous secondary resource. The interdisciplinary approach represents a more exhaustive approach to determine the status of waste than single disciplinary approaches.