20 01 27 paint, inks, adhesives and resins containing hazardous substances

This is a code under chapter 20 01 — Separately collected fractions (except 15 01) of the UK European Waste Catalogue, used on waste transfer notes to classify the type of waste being transferred.

20 01 27 is the hazardous half of the paint entry: leftover paint, varnish, ink, adhesive and resin whose composition brings it into scope. It is a separately collected municipal fraction, so it arrives from household waste sites and from the small trades that generate it a few tins at a time.

Its counterpart, 20 01 28, covers the same materials without those substances, and which applies is decided by what is actually in the containers rather than by what the collection is called. Because this half is hazardous, the movement needs a consignment note rather than a transfer note, and the extra record-keeping that comes with it.

Where this waste usually comes from

Household waste recycling centre paint bays
Decorators and small building trades clearing part-used tins
Site cabins and stores at the end of a job

The common mistake with 20 01 27

Coding a whole mixed paint collection to the non-hazardous half because most of it looks like emulsion. A single hazardous fraction in the load does not disappear because it is outnumbered.

Code: 20 01 27
Chapter: 20 01
Description: paint, inks, adhesives and resins containing hazardous substances
Chapter description: Separately collected fractions (except 15 01)
Entry type: Mirror hazardous — part of a mirror pair. Whether this entry applies depends on a WM3 assessment of the substances present.
Classification: Hazardous. Requires a Hazardous Waste Consignment Note (HWCN), not a standard Waste Transfer Note. Additional record-keeping applies under the Hazardous Waste Regulations 2005.

Check the other half of this mirror entry

Whether 20 01 27 or its counterpart applies depends on a WM3 assessment of the substances present — the same waste stream classifies differently depending on what it contains.

20 01 28paint, inks, adhesives and resins other than those mentioned in 20 01 27non-hazardous

Hazard properties this entry typically carries

Paints, inks, adhesives with dangerous substances — typically flammable, irritant, ecotoxic.

These are the hazard properties this EWC entry typically carries, not a classification of any particular load. Under WM3, whether a hazard property applies depends on the substances actually present and their concentrations — the producer is responsible for assessing each consignment.

Need an HWCN with code 20 01 27? Free generator, no signup.

20 01 27 is hazardous waste — it requires a Hazardous Waste Consignment Note (HWCN), not a standard WTN. Our free HWCN generator pre-fills the code and produces a compliant PDF in under a minute.

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Compliance & guidance

Background reading for hazardous waste under UK regulations.

Other codes in chapter 20 01

Separately collected fractions (except 15 01)

Full list of EWC codes — all 20 chapters →