California waste code 221 Used engine, gear & hydraulic oil, and oil mixed with other oil.

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Based on California Title 22 and DTSC guidance
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Organics
Waste oil and mixed oil

The material is waste oil or mixed oil, rather than oil-water separator sludge or other oily debris.

Waste oil and mixed oil, such as used engine, gear & hydraulic oil. Separator sludge and other oily debris take other codes.

Is California code 221 hazardous waste?

Not from the code alone. The material must first be determined hazardous. California code 221 is not restricted, and a restricted code takes priority over it. A non-restricted code doesn't make a waste non-hazardous.

If the shipment needs the Uniform Hazardous Waste Manifest, enter 221 in Item 13 for the waste line. Use one California code, plus any federal RCRA codes when the waste is federally hazardous.

Waste is RCRA waste when it meets a federal listing or characteristic and no federal exclusion applies. Non-RCRA waste is hazardous under California rules only. California presumes hazardous waste is RCRA unless the generator shows it isn't, so keep that determination.

What does California code 221 cover?

This is for oil itself or a mixture of oils. It isn't for sludge from separating oil and water, or for other material contaminated with oil. California manages used oil as hazardous waste, but not every oil-bearing waste meets the used-oil definition or qualifies for its collection and transport routes.

Official wording: 22 CCR division 4.5, chapter 11, Appendix XII(b)

Is waste oil California code 221?

Code	When it fits
221	The discarded hazardous material is oil or mixed oil itself.
222	Sludge produced by separating oil from water.
223	Oil contaminates another hazardous material, so it isn't free oil or separator sludge.
731	The hazardous liquid holds at least 50 mg/L PCBs.

Code 221 doesn't prove a load can use the used-oil routes. Oil with a flashpoint below 100°F, hazardous-waste mixtures, or 5 ppm PCBs or more are excluded from them. More than 1,000 ppm total halogens means you must rebut the mixing presumption. The 5 ppm route condition is not the 50 mg/L PCB threshold for the restricted code.

How can California code 221 oil be shipped?

A qualifying registered consolidated transporter gives you a receipt. Keep it for 3 years. A generator may self-transport qualifying used oil to a collection center that accepts it, within the 55-gallon shipment and container limits. Ask the center before carrying more than 20 gallons or using containers larger than 5 gallons. Mobile-maintenance consolidation has its own conditions. Otherwise work out whether a normal manifest is needed, because the code alone doesn't open a collection route.

Which wastes take California code 221?

Waste	When it’s 221
Used oil	The discarded material is oil itself, not separator sludge or oily absorbent.