EWC codes Find the code for any waste, or check one you’ve been given.

What is an EWC code?

It’s the six-digit code for a type of waste in the List of Waste. GOV.UK also calls it the LoW code or the waste classification code, and most people still say EWC, after the European Waste Catalogue. In 17 09 04, 17 is the chapter (construction and demolition waste), 09 the sub-chapter and 04 the waste itself.

The UK list has 842 codes in 20 chapters. A code only fits waste that falls under its chapter and sub-chapter headings. Read the list on legislation.gov.uk.

What does the asterisk mean?

A code with an asterisk, like 17 06 05*, is hazardous waste whenever that code applies. 408 of the 842 codes on the list have one.

What if a waste could take either of two codes?

Soil, plasterboard, wood and many others have a pair, one code with an asterisk and one without. Which applies depends on what’s in the waste. Soil is 17 05 04 only once an assessment shows it isn’t hazardous. If what’s in it can’t be found out, it’s 17 05 03*.

Landfill acceptance (WAC) test results can’t be used to decide. The Environment Agency’s WM3 guidance sets out how to assess a waste.

What’s the EWC code for general waste?

It depends where it comes from. Everyday rubbish from site offices, canteens and welfare cabins is like household rubbish, so it’s 20 03 01, mixed municipal waste. Mixed waste from the building work itself is 17 09 04. A skip of only mixed packaging is 15 01 06.

Chapter 20 covers household waste and similar waste from businesses, so a skip of building waste isn’t 20 03 01.

Does a mixed skip need more than one code?

Yes, one for each waste you can pick out of it. WM3’s own example is a lead acid battery in a skip of demolition wood: 16 06 01* for the battery, and 17 02 01 for the wood only if the battery hasn’t contaminated it. Add each one to the load above.

Mixing hazardous waste into other waste isn’t allowed, so keep it apart. The codes describe a load that’s already mixed, and it must be separated where that’s practical (WM3, Appendix A, Example 1).

There’s no small-amount exemption for a hazardous item in a mixed load: building waste that would be 17 09 04 becomes 17 09 02* once PCB resin flooring is in it. What decides is whether the item itself is hazardous. A PCB item counts from 50 mg/kg PCB (0.005%), and a piece of asbestos-containing material from 0.1% asbestos. In Scotland a special waste consignment note takes a single code, chosen by the process that produced the waste.

What’s the EWC code for cardboard and packaging?

Empty cardboard boxes are 15 01 01, not 20 01 01, because packaging always goes in 15 01. Empty tins, drums and IBCs with a hazardous residue are 15 01 10* (GOV.UK packaging guide).

It only counts as packaging when it’s empty. A tin that still has paint in it, even dried, is coded as the paint (WM3, Appendix A).

Which codes are for asbestos?

17 06 05* for building materials containing asbestos, such as asbestos cement sheets, and 17 06 01* for insulation containing asbestos. A piece is hazardous when it holds 0.1% asbestos or more. Pieces of asbestos in soil make it a mixed load, with 17 06 05* for the pieces and a separate code for the soil (GOV.UK construction guide, WM3).

In what order do you look through the list?

Start with the chapters for where the waste came from, 01 to 12 and 17 to 20, skipping codes ending in 99. If nothing fits, try chapters 13, 14 and 15, then chapter 16. Only then use a 99 code from the first step (WM3, Appendix A).