EWC code for packaging waste
Packaging, cardboard, plastic wrap, cans and the rest, lives in chapter 15 01 of the List of Waste. Mixed together it is 15 01 06. It is non-hazardous, with two important exceptions for packaging that held dangerous substances.
Mixed packaging
The packaging family
Chapter 15 01 covers waste packaging. Mixed together it is 15 01 06, and when a single material is collected on its own it gets its own code:
- 15 01 01 paper and cardboard
- 15 01 02 plastic
- 15 01 03 wooden packaging
- 15 01 04 metallic packaging
- 15 01 07 glass
All of these are non-hazardous when they are clean and empty, so a waste transfer note with a registered carrier is enough.
When packaging becomes hazardous
Two cases flip packaging into hazardous waste, which needs a consignment note and a licensed receiving site:
- 15 01 10* packaging containing residues of, or contaminated by, dangerous substances. This is the empty chemical drum, the paint tin with paint still in it, the contaminated tote.
- 15 01 11* metallic packaging with a dangerous solid porous matrix, which is how aerosol cans are classified because of the propellant.
Common mistake: treating an empty chemical container as ordinary recycling. If it held a dangerous substance and has not been properly cleaned, it is 15 01 10* hazardous waste, not 15 01 02.