EWC chapter 10: thermal processes waste codes explained

Power stations, metal smelters, glass furnaces and cement kilns all generate waste — and the EWC codes for those wastes sit in chapter 10. The chapter mixes non-hazardous and hazardous codes, often as mirror entry pairs, so getting the right code depends on knowing your fuel, your process and the chemistry of what comes out. This guide walks through each subcategory and the key classification decisions.

What is EWC chapter 10?

The chapter captures waste arising from the industrial use of heat — furnaces, kilns, smelters and boilers. It does not cover waste processed through thermal treatment at a waste management facility; those residues (incinerator ash, for example) belong in chapter 19. Chapter 10 is for the primary-process operator whose main activity is energy generation, metal production or materials manufacture.

What subcategories does EWC chapter 10 contain?

What are the most important EWC chapter 10 codes for power stations?

Subcategory 10 01 has the largest number of codes in the chapter and the most classification decisions to make, because the hazardous status of combustion residues depends on the fuel and on what is in the ash:

Coal fly ash (10 01 02) is non-hazardous; fly ash from oil combustion (10 01 04*) is always hazardous. Co-incineration plants burning waste alongside their primary fuel must assess their bottom ash and fly ash against the mirror entry pairs (10 01 14*/15 and 10 01 16*/17) to determine which code applies.

What are the key EWC codes for non-ferrous metallurgy?

The key distinction across non-ferrous subcategories is between primary production (from ore) and secondary production (from recycled metal). Secondary aluminium and lead operations generally produce more hazardous waste because the input material carries impurities and the processes use fluxes and other additives:

What codes apply to cement, ceramics and glass manufacture?

What do hazardous chapter 10 codes mean for waste compliance?

• →Consignment note — a hazardous waste consignment note must accompany every movement of hazardous chapter 10 waste. It records the EWC code, quantity, producer, carrier registration and receiving facility.
• →Upper-tier carrier — lower-tier waste carrier registration does not cover hazardous waste. Verify any carrier on the Environment Agency (or SEPA / NRW / NIEA) public register before handing over the waste.
• →3-year records — hazardous waste records (including the consignment note) must be kept for a minimum of 3 years. Standard (non-hazardous) waste transfer notes require 2 years.
• →Digital Waste Tracking — sites that receive waste covered by chapter 10 codes (transfer stations, treatment facilities, landfills) have been required to record each arriving movement in DEFRA's Digital Waste Tracking service since 1 October 2026 in England and Wales (1 January 2027 in Northern Ireland and Scotland).

What is a mirror entry pair, and how do you choose the right code?

Mirror entries appear throughout chapter 10 wherever a process can produce either a hazardous or a non-hazardous version of the same residue, depending on input materials or operating conditions. For example, co-incineration bottom ash is 10 01 14* if the ash tests above the hazardous thresholds for heavy metals or dioxins, and 10 01 15 if it does not. The producer — typically the power station or industrial operator — is responsible for classifying the waste correctly, which normally requires waste characterisation testing and a hazard assessment against the HP1–HP15 criteria.

Where you cannot determine the hazardous status with confidence, the waste should be treated and consigned as hazardous until characterisation testing demonstrates otherwise.

This guide is general information about EWC waste codes, not legal advice. Codes are case-sensitive and applied as set out in the UK List of Wastes. Check your specific obligations against the primary sources below and, if in doubt, contact the Environment Agency, SEPA, NRW or NIEA for your nation.