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Cardboard EWC code 15 01 01 for boxes and packaging, 20 01 01 for other paper and card.

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

Find an EWC code

Cardboard and paper: 2 codes.

Cardboard and paper

  • Not hazardousPackaging

    Empty cardboard or paper packaging

  • Not hazardousHousehold-type, collected separately

    Paper or card that is NOT packaging, collected separately

10 more codes in the full list mention “Cardboard and paper”

  • Not hazardousPaper and pulp making

    Mechanically separated rejects from pulping of waste paper and cardboard

  • Not hazardousPaper and pulp making

    Waste from sorting of paper and cardboard destined for recycling

  • Not hazardousWaste sorting and treatment

    Paper and cardboard

  • Not hazardousPaper and pulp making

    De-inking sludges from paper recycling

  • Not hazardousPaper and pulp making

    Waste bark and wood

  • Not hazardousPaper and pulp making

    Green liquor sludge

  • Not hazardousPaper and pulp making

    Lime mud waste

  • Not hazardousPaper and pulp making

    Fibre rejects, fibre-, filler- and coating-sludges from mechanical separation

Is cardboard 15 01 01 or 20 01 01?

Boxes and packaging
15 01 01. Packaging always goes in 15 01, never 20 01.
Other paper and card
20 01 01, collected separately.
A mix of both
15 01 01 and 20 01 01 together.
Packaging with a hazardous residue
15 01 10*.

Can cardboard go in a skip on a building site?

Not in England. Since 31 March 2025, construction sites must keep cardboard packaging, such as the boxes new appliances come in, apart from other construction waste. GOV.UK says recyclables shouldn’t be mixed or compacted with construction waste “under any circumstances”. Your collector may ask you to put cardboard in a bag on top of the skip so it can be taken separately. Firms with fewer than 10 full-time equivalent employees have until 31 March 2027.

What code is baled cardboard from a recycling yard?

19 12 01, paper and cardboard from the mechanical treatment of waste, used only when it has been separated from other wastes. It’s for sorting and baling sites. Cardboard straight from a site or office stays 15 01 01.

Sources

The codes apply across the UK. The workplace recycling rules here are England’s; Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have their own.