Guidance

Vehicle and oily wastes: how to classify

Waste codes for common wastes produced by vehicle maintenance and dismantling activities.

• From: Environment Agency and Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs
• Published: 21 March 2014

You must classify the waste your business produces before it is collected, disposed of or recovered.

You must do this to identify:

• if the waste is hazardous or not
• which controls apply to the movement of the waste - this is to prevent harm to people and the environment

(*) An asterisk at the end of a code means the waste is hazardous.

Vehicle fluids and other oils

You must not mix any of the following fluids:

• mineral oils
• cooking oils
• halogenated oils
• brake fluids
• anti-freeze
• washer fluids
• oily waters

Vehicle and other oils

	Waste status	Contains PCBs	Mineral-based and chlorinated	Mineral-based and non-chlorinated	Synthetic	Readily biodegradable	Other oils
Hydraulic oils	Hazardous	13 01 01*	13 01 09*	13 01 10*	13 01 11*	13 01 12*	13 01 13*
Engine, gear and lubricating oils	Hazardous	Not applicable	13 02 04*	13 02 05*	13 02 06*	13 02 07*	13 02 08*
Insulating and transmission oils	Hazardous	13 03 01*	13 03 06*	13 03 07*	13 03 08*	13 03 09*	13 03 10*

(PCBs are polychlorinated biphenyls.)

Interceptor wastes

	Waste status	Waste code
Interceptor sludges	Hazardous	13 05 03*
Oily water from interceptor	Hazardous	13 05 07*
Solid waste from interceptor	Hazardous	13 05 01*

Fuels, brake and anti-freeze fluids

	Waste status	Waste code
Fuel oil and diesel	Hazardous	13 07 01*
Petrol	Hazardous	13 07 02*
Other fuels, including mixed fuels from mis-fuelling	Hazardous	13 07 03*
Brake fluids	Hazardous	16 01 13*
Antifreeze containing hazardous substances	Hazardous	16 01 14*
Antifreeze not containing hazardous substances	Non-hazardous	16 01 15

Vehicles and their components

The waste code for end-of-life (no longer usable) tyres is 16 01 03.

Vehicles

	Waste status	Waste code
End-of-life vehicles - un-depolluted	Hazardous	16 01 04*
End-of-life vehicles - depolluted	Non-hazardous	16 01 06

Components, including oil filters

	Waste status	Waste code
Oil filters	Hazardous	16 01 07*
Components containing mercury	Hazardous	16 01 08*
Components containing PCBs	Hazardous	16 01 09*

Air bags

The waste code for explosive components (for example air bags) is 16 01 10*.

Brake pads

	Waste status	Waste code
Brake pads containing asbestos	Hazardous	16 01 11*
Other brake pads	Non-hazardous	16 01 12

Car batteries

The waste code for lead acid car batteries is 16 06 01*.

Catalytic converters

The waste code for catalytic converters is 16 01 21*, or 16 01 22 for those that do not contain refractory ceramic fibres (RCF).

End-of-life vehicle wastes

	Waste status	Waste code
Ferrous metal	Non-hazardous	16 01 17
Non-ferrous metal	Non-hazardous	16 01 18
Cable	Hazardous and persistent organic pollutants (POPs)	16 01 21* and 16 01 22
Plastic	Non-hazardous	16 01 19
Vehicle glass	Non-hazardous	16 01 20

Contaminated materials

	Waste status	Waste code
Clothing, absorbents or wiping cloths contaminated with hazardous substances	Hazardous	15 02 02*
Clothing, absorbents or wiping clothes contaminated with non-hazardous substances	Non-hazardous	15 02 03

How to classify other wastes

Check the guidance on how to classify other common waste types.

Or check the technical guidance on waste, which lists all of the waste codes and how to apply them.

Get advice from a specialist waste contractor if you are not sure what code to use for your waste.

For more information, contact the Environment Agency.

General enquiries

National Customer Contact Centre
PO Box 544
Rotherham
S60 1BY

Email enquiries@environment-agency.gov.uk

Telephone 03708 506 506

Telephone from outside the UK (Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm GMT) +44 (0) 114 282 5312

Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm.

Published 21 March 2014