Let $\mathcal M \subseteq Mor(\mathcal C)$ be a class of morphisms in a locally presentable category.
It's well-known that $\mathcal M$ is the left half of an accessible orthogonal factorization system iff $\mathcal M$ is accessible (as a full subcategory of the morphism category $\mathcal C^{[1]}$), and is closed under colimits in $\mathcal C^{[1]}$, cobase-change, composition, and isomorphisms.
Analogously (though perhaps this is less well-known), $\mathcal M$ is the right class of an accessible orthogonal factorization system iff it is accessible and accessibly-embedded in $\mathcal C^{[1]}$, and closed under limits in $\mathcal C^{[1]}$, base-change, composition, and isomorphisms. The proof of course is not dual -- one observes that under these conditions, $\mathcal M$ is accessibly-reflective in $\mathcal C^{[1]}$, shows that one leg of each unit map must be an isomorphism, so that the reflector provides factorizations, and then verifies a few things.
In the case of weak factorization systems (wfs), the situation can't be quite so simple. For one thing, not all accessible wfs on a locally presentable category are cofibrantly-generated, so any "small generation" argument is going to be more delicate.
More to the point, the left class of a wfs can be accessible without the wfs being accessible, and conversely (at least under anti-large-cardinal hypotheses) the left class of an accessible wfs need not be accessible. So even though one might guess that closure under coproducts, cobase-change, isomorphisms, composition, transfinite composition, and retracts should nearly characterize left classes of accessible wfs on locally presentable categories, it's not clear what kind of "accessibility" hypothesis to add to get a characterization.
Nevertheless, there might be more hope for characterizing the right classes of wfs on locally presentable categories. In particular, the following guess seems reasonable:
Question: Let $\mathcal M \subseteq Mor(\mathcal C)$ be a class of morphisms in a locally presentable category. Suppose that $\mathcal M$ is accessible and accessibly embedded in $\mathcal C^{[1]}$, and closed under products, base change, isomorphisms, composition, co-transfinite composition, and retracts. Does it follow that $\mathcal M$ is the right class of an accessible weak factorization system on $\mathcal C$? If not, is there a characterization along similar lines?
Presumably the proof of any characterization will proceed by using some form of Garner's small object argument, but beyond that it's unclear to me.
Actually, there's a stronger condition than closure under dual transfinite composition which might be needed: say that a morphism in $\mathcal M \subseteq \mathcal C^{[1]}$ (corresponding to a commutative square in $\mathcal C$ with two opposite legs lying in $\mathcal M$) is $\mathcal M$-cartesian if the comparison map into the pullback lies in $\mathcal M$. If $\mathcal M$ is the right class of a wfs, I believe it's the case that the wide subcategory of $\mathcal M$ whose morphisms are the $\mathcal M$-cartesian squares is closed in $\mathcal C^{[1]}$ under cofiltered limits. We might have to include this condition in our putative characterization.
