EWC codes for your type of site, in plain English

Every waste on a load needs its six-digit waste code, the EWC or list of waste code. Most sites use the same handful over and over. These are the ones each kind of site sees most.

Looks like: Six digits, written in pairs like 17 09 04. In software and Defra's spreadsheet it goes in without spaces.
Hazardous: An asterisk after the code, like 17 05 03*, means hazardous. That load also needs a consignment note code.
Twins: Many codes come in pairs: a hazardous one and a non-hazardous one. Pick the one that is true for the load.
Who decides: The producer classifies the waste. Your job is to record the code that came with it, and to query it if it is plainly wrong.

The codes each kind of site sees most

Wording is the catalogue's own, from Defra's receipt of waste template, with a plain description in brackets where the catalogue's wording does not help. This is a short list of the common ones, not the full catalogue of over 800 codes.

Skip hire yard or transfer station

Code	What the catalogue calls it
17 09 04	mixed construction and demolition wastes
20 03 01	mixed municipal waste
17 01 07	mixtures of concrete, bricks, tiles and ceramics
17 05 04	soil and stones
20 02 01	biodegradable waste (green waste)
15 01 06	mixed packaging
17 02 01	wood
20 03 07	bulky waste
17 08 02	gypsum-based construction materials

Metal recycling site or scrap yard

Code	What the catalogue calls it
17 04 05	iron and steel
17 04 07	mixed metals
17 04 01	copper, bronze, brass
17 04 02	aluminium
16 01 17	ferrous metal (from vehicles)
16 01 18	non-ferrous metal (from vehicles)
20 01 40	metals (from households)
19 12 02	ferrous metal (from treating waste)
15 01 04	metallic packaging

Vehicle dismantler

Code	What the catalogue calls it
16 01 06	end-of-life vehicles, with neither liquids nor other hazardous parts
16 01 03	end-of-life tyres
16 01 17	ferrous metal
16 01 18	non-ferrous metal

Inert, aggregate and soil recycling

Code	What the catalogue calls it
17 01 01	concrete
17 01 02	bricks
17 01 07	mixtures of concrete, bricks, tiles
17 05 04	soil and stones
17 03 02	bituminous mixtures (tarmac planings)
20 03 03	street-cleaning residues (sweepings)
19 12 09	minerals, such as sand and stones

Composting site

Code	What the catalogue calls it
20 02 01	biodegradable waste (garden waste)
02 01 03	plant tissue waste
20 01 08	biodegradable kitchen and canteen waste
02 01 06	animal faeces, urine and manure
19 05 03	off-specification compost

Kitchen and canteen waste (20 01 08) is only for sites whose permit lists it. The standard rules for open-air composting (SR2021 No 2) do not allow it, so check your permit before you take it in.

Anaerobic digestion (AD) plant

Code	What the catalogue calls it
20 01 08	biodegradable kitchen and canteen waste
02 02 03	materials unsuitable for consumption (meat and fish processing)
02 03 04	materials unsuitable for consumption (fruit, veg and other food processing)
02 07 04	materials unsuitable for consumption (drinks production)
02 01 06	animal faeces, urine and manure
02 05 02	sludges from on-site effluent treatment (dairy)

Kitchen and canteen waste (20 01 08) is normal at food-waste AD plants with their own permit, but the standard rules for on-farm AD (SR2021 No 9) do not allow it. If yours is an on-farm standard-rules permit, use the list in your permit instead.

Landspreading or mobile plant

Code	What the catalogue calls it
19 06 06	digestate from anaerobic treatment of animal and vegetable waste
19 06 04	digestate from anaerobic treatment of municipal waste
02 04 02	off-specification calcium carbonate
02 05 02	dairy effluent treatment sludges
02 03 05	sludges from on-site effluent treatment (food processing)

Each type of site in more detail, with how many English sites took each code in 2024 and a filled-in example record: Skip hire and transfer stations · Scrap metal and vehicle dismantlers · Anaerobic digestion and biogas · Composting · Inert, soil and quarries · Wood recycling · WEEE · Tyres · Hazardous waste and consignment notes · Landfill.

How to read a code

The first pair is the chapter, the industry or process the waste came from: 17 is construction and demolition, 20 is municipal and household, 19 is waste from treating waste, 16 is vehicles and things not listed elsewhere, 15 is packaging, 02 is agriculture and food.

That is why the same material can have different codes. Iron and steel from a demolition job is 17 04 05. Ferrous metal taken off a scrapped vehicle is 16 01 17. Ferrous metal pulled out of mixed waste at a transfer station is 19 12 02. It is the same metal and three different codes, because it came from three different places.

The twins

Codes like 17 05 04 say "other than those mentioned in 17 05 03". 17 05 03* is its hazardous twin, for soil containing dangerous substances. If the load is ordinary soil and stones, 17 05 04 is right. If the producer has told you it is contaminated, the asterisked code is right, and it is a hazardous load.

The full rules for classifying waste are in GOV.UK's waste classification technical guidance (known as WM3).

Straight answers

Questions people ask

What is an EWC code?

The six-digit code from the European Waste Catalogue, also called the list of waste code, that describes what a waste is and where it came from. Digital waste tracking asks for one for every waste on a load.

What is the EWC code for mixed skip waste?

Mixed construction and demolition waste is usually 17 09 04. Mixed general waste from homes and businesses is usually 20 03 01. The producer should tell you which.

What is the EWC code for scrap metal?

It depends where the metal came from: 17 04 05 for iron and steel from construction and demolition, 17 04 07 for mixed metals, 16 01 17 for ferrous metal from vehicles, 20 01 40 for metals from households.

What is the EWC code for soil and stones?

17 05 04 for soil and stones that are not hazardous. Its hazardous twin, 17 05 03*, is for soil containing dangerous substances.

What does an asterisk on an EWC code mean?

It means the waste is hazardous. A hazardous load also needs its consignment note code recorded.

Can one load have more than one EWC code?

Yes. Record each waste on the load with its own code and weight. One lorry carrying three wastes is one load with three waste items.

Want this done for you at the gate?

Byrne Waste Tracking runs in the browser on a phone at the gate, with nothing to install. It remembers your carriers and their numbers, offers the waste codes and R or D codes your site uses, checks each load against Defra's rules before it saves, and sends it to Defra automatically once you've linked your Defra account. Byrne Digital Solutions is listed on GOV.UK as a compatible software provider.

£89 per site per month, no contract. Join before 1 November 2026 and nothing is due until 1 November; join from 1 November and you get 14 days free. After that it's £89 a month per site, and there's no card to enter until you start it. No setup fee when you set it up yourself. If a consultant introduces you, any setup fee is agreed through them and you see the amount before you pay anything.

A site in Scotland or Northern Ireland that joins before 1 January 2027 pays nothing until 1 January 2027, the day the duty starts there.

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