Which EWC code applies to soil and stones?
Clean excavated soil and stones are normally coded 17 05 04, and soil containing hazardous substances is 17 05 03*. The two entries are a mirror pair, so the load in front of you decides which one goes on the transfer note.
Where soil sits in the List of Waste
Excavated soil, stones and dredging spoil have their own group in chapter 17 of the List of Waste, the chapter for construction and demolition waste. The group is 17 05, and the entry a skip yard or transfer station writes most often is 17 05 04, worded in the list as soil and stones other than those mentioned in 17 05 03.
Its partner, 17 05 03*, covers soil and stones containing hazardous substances. Neither entry is automatic. They are what the classification guidance calls a mirror pair: the code depends on what is actually in the material, judged from the site's history and, where needed, from testing. The Environment Agency's technical guidance, usually called WM3, is the document that sets out how that assessment is done.
Two practical points follow for a receiving site. First, the code written by the producer or the carrier is the one that lands on your register and in your quarterly return, so it is worth a glance before the skip tips. Second, soil that is not construction arisings may belong somewhere else entirely, and the table below shows the nearest neighbours.
Soil, stones and spoil entries, and what each one covers
| Code | Entry as worded in the List of Waste | Typical load |
|---|---|---|
| 17 05 04 | Soil and stones other than those mentioned in 17 05 03 | Clean dig arisings, subsoil, stone, muck away from a housing plot |
| 17 05 03* | Soil and stones containing hazardous substances | Arisings from made ground, a former yard, fuel or solvent contamination |
| 17 05 06 | Dredging spoil other than those mentioned in 17 05 05 | Silt and spoil from a watercourse or pond clearance |
| 17 05 05* | Dredging spoil containing hazardous substances | Spoil from a dock, canal or industrial watercourse |
| 17 05 08 | Track ballast other than those mentioned in 17 05 07 | Stone ballast lifted from a rail job |
| 17 05 07* | Track ballast containing hazardous substances | Ballast with oil or tar contamination |
| 20 02 02 | Soil and stones, under garden and park wastes | Topsoil, turf and stone from a garden or grounds clearance |
Questions
What is the EWC code for soil?
For soil and stones that are not hazardous, the code is 17 05 04, listed as soil and stones other than those mentioned in 17 05 03. The other half of the pair is 17 05 03*, soil and stones containing hazardous substances. Which one applies depends on what is in the material, not on the type of job it came from. If the soil came off a garden or grounds clearance rather than a construction dig, look at 20 02 02 instead.
When does soil have to be coded 17 05 03* instead?
When the soil contains hazardous substances at or above the thresholds set out in the classification guidance. Because 17 05 03* and 17 05 04 are a mirror pair, somebody has to assess the material rather than pick by habit. The usual grounds for suspicion are site history: made ground, a former filling station, a works, a gasworks, demolition arisings with asbestos in them, or any ground investigation report that flags a contaminant. Where there is doubt, the guidance expects an assessment, and WM3 is the reference the regulator works from.
Is 17 05 04 the right code for a muck away load?
Usually, yes. Muck away is the yard's word for the movement, not a waste classification, so the code depends on what is in the lorry. Clean dig arisings, subsoil and stone from a greenfield plot sit comfortably at 17 05 04. The same movement off a contaminated site with a hazardous assessment behind it is 17 05 03*, and in that case it is a hazardous waste movement with the paperwork that goes with it.
What code covers topsoil and turf from a garden clearance?
Soil and stones arriving as garden and park waste are coded 20 02 02 in chapter 20, the chapter for municipal and similar wastes. This is the entry that fits a landscaper's tip run or a grounds maintenance load rather than a construction dig. If the load is mostly green waste with a little soil clinging to roots, describe it honestly and code it for what dominates. A yard taking both kinds of load is better off with two separate waste descriptions than one blurred entry.
What if the soil is mixed with rubble and hardcore?
A genuinely mixed load is not soil, and forcing it into 17 05 04 makes the register say something untrue. The chapter has its own entry for mixed construction and demolition waste, and the question of when to use it is covered on our page about mixed construction and demolition codes. If the soil and the rubble arrive separated, or the yard separates them before tipping, code and weigh them separately. Whichever you choose, write the waste description in the words a person would use, so the code and the description agree.
Do dredging spoil and track ballast use the soil code?
No, they have their own entries in the same 17 05 group. Dredging spoil is 17 05 06, or 17 05 05* if it contains hazardous substances. Track ballast is 17 05 08, or 17 05 07* for the hazardous case. Each pair works the same way as the soil pair, so the assessment question is the same one: what is in the material, and is there anything in the site's history that makes a hazardous entry likely.
Who decides the code, the carrier or the receiving site?
Classification is the duty of the waste holder, so the producer or the carrier should arrive with a code already on the paperwork. A receiving site is not a bystander, though, because that code goes onto your register and into your quarterly return. If the lorry says 17 05 04 and what tips out is black, oily or smells of solvent, that is the moment to query it rather than after the quarter closes. The duty of care page explains what else a receiving site is expected to check.
How do I record the soil code on a digital transfer note?
Skiplog's transfer note asks for the waste description, the EWC code, the quantity, the carrier details and the destination site, and is built to be completed in under two minutes on a phone or tablet at the weighbridge. If the yard has no signal, the note saves on the device first and shows a queued, syncing or synced status, then goes up when connectivity returns. The codes you record feed the quarterly EA return, exported as a CSV in a configurable column layout, and the site dashboard shows tonnage by waste type, which is how a soil yard sees its own mix. Hazardous soil coded 17 05 03* moves on a consignment note, which Skiplog does not produce.