# EWC code for wooden pallets 15 01 03 wooden packaging, even when they come off a building site.

> EWC code for wooden pallets: 15 01 03 wooden packaging, even on a building site, when a returned pallet isn’t waste, and pallets mixed with timber.
> Web page: https://complyonsite.com/tools/ewc-code-finder?waste=pallets

- Free, no account
- Based on the UK List of Waste and GOV.UK guidance
- Nothing is stored

## Why are pallets 15 01 03, not 17 02 01?

Pallets and crates are packaging, and packaging waste goes in 15 01. GOV.UK’s codes for building and demolition wood exclude packaging, and the list’s chapter 20 codes for separately collected waste exclude 15 01 too. So a pallet is 15 01 03 wherever it’s thrown out, a building site included. A pallet contaminated by a hazardous spill is 15 01 10*.

## Is a pallet going back to the supplier waste?

Not if all of these are true:

- It will be used as a pallet again.
- You meant it to be reused when you handed it over.
- It needs no more than a minor repair, both sides know this, and the repair will be done.
- It isn’t stored or moved in a way that could damage it, as waste would be.
- Its use is lawful.

Pallets that don’t pass and are thrown out are 15 01 03.

## Pallets in a skip with other timber: one code or two?

Two. Pallets are a separate waste from building timber, so each gets its own code on its own line of the note: 15 01 03 for the pallets, and 17 02 01 for the timber, or 17 02 04* if it’s hazardous. GOV.UK says you’ll usually need more than one code when a container holds more than one type of non-hazardous waste. See [wood](https://complyonsite.com/tools/ewc-code-finder?waste=wood) for the timber.

### Sources

- [List of Waste, as retained in UK law (legislation.gov.uk)](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/eudn/2000/532/annex)
- [GOV.UK, Construction and demolition waste: how to classify](https://www.gov.uk/guidance/construction-and-demolition-waste-how-to-classify)
- [Environment Agency, WM3 waste classification guidance](https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/waste-classification-technical-guidance)
- [GOV.UK, Check if your material is waste](https://www.gov.uk/guidance/check-if-your-material-is-waste)
- [GOV.UK, Classify different types of waste: your legal responsibilities](https://www.gov.uk/guidance/classify-different-types-of-waste-your-legal-responsibilities)