What happens to workplace substances once they become waste — the UK-wide hazardous waste figures on tonnes, types, sectors and disposal routes, drawn from Defra, the Environment Agency, SEPA and Natural Resources Wales and fully sourced.
Every COSHH-controlled substance eventually becomes waste — a part-used tin of solvent, a spent filter, a drum of contaminated oil — and at that point a second body of law takes over. This page aggregates the hazardous waste numbers for the whole UK in one place, something no single official page does, because the data is split across four national bodies: Defra’s UK Statistics on Waste, the Environment Agency’s Hazardous Waste Interrogator for England, SEPA for Scotland and Natural Resources Wales. Every figure below carries its geography and its data period, because the vintages genuinely differ — England data runs to 2022, UK-wide data only to 2020 — and every source is linked at the end.
This handling-and-disposal page sits alongside the worker-exposure story told on our COSHH statistics page. Where that page counts the illness caused by using hazardous substances, this one counts the tonnage created when they are thrown away, and the duty-of-care rules that govern where it goes.
Key facts and figures
- 3.6 million tonnes of hazardous waste were generated in England in 2022 — about 1.9% of all waste generated (Defra, July 2025 release).
- 5.4 million tonnes of hazardous waste were generated across the whole UK in 2020, the latest four-nation total available (Defra, July 2025).
- 1.31 million tonnes — discarded (end-of-life) vehicles were England’s single largest hazardous category in 2022, around 36% of all arisings (Defra, 2022 data).
- 45.5% of the hazardous waste reaching final treatment in England in 2022 was still deposited onto or into land — landfill (Defra, 2022 data).
- 550,300 tonnes of England’s 2022 hazardous waste came from construction — around 15% of the total (Defra, 2022 data).
- 410,000 tonnes of hazardous (“special”) waste were generated in Scotland in 2023, down 4.2% on 2022 (SEPA, 2023 data).
- ~225,000 tonnes of hazardous waste were estimated from Welsh industry and commerce in 2018 — 8% of I&C waste (NRW survey, 2018).
- Every consignment of hazardous waste moved in England is tracked by the Environment Agency; the 2024 Hazardous Waste Interrogator, published April 2026, is the latest movements dataset.
These are the latest figures available as of July 2026. The data carries an inherent lag: Defra’s UK Statistics on Waste lands each July (England to 2022, UK to 2020 in the current release), the EA’s Hazardous Waste Interrogator refreshes each spring, and SEPA’s Scottish releases arrive over the summer and autumn. This page is updated when each new release appears.
How much hazardous waste does the UK produce each year?
England generated 3,624,269 tonnes of hazardous waste in 2022 — roughly 3.6 million tonnes, or about 1.9% of the 191.4 million tonnes of all waste generated in England that year (Defra UK Statistics on Waste dataset, July 2025 release). Hazardous waste is therefore a small fraction of the total waste stream by weight, but a disproportionately important one, because its handling, transport and disposal are all tightly controlled.
For the whole UK the most recent four-nation figure is older. The UK generated 5,400,255 tonnes of hazardous waste in 2020 — about 5.4 million tonnes, or 2.8% of the 191.2-million-tonne UK total for that year (Defra, July 2025). The gap between the England 2022 figure and the UK 2020 figure is not a real fall in tonnage; it reflects the two- to three-year reporting lag and the fact that the four nations publish on different schedules, so a single up-to-date UK-wide total simply does not exist. This is exactly why aggregating the national sources by hand is worthwhile — and why every number here is labelled with its year.
What counts as hazardous waste in the UK?
WM3 is the classification framework that decides whether a waste is hazardous. Waste is classified using the List of Waste — a catalogue of six-digit European Waste Catalogue (EWC) codes — together with the technical guidance WM3 (1st edition, v1.2.GB) jointly published by the Environment Agency, SEPA, Natural Resources Wales and the Northern Ireland Environment Agency. A waste is hazardous if it displays one or more of the hazardous properties (HP1 to HP15 — for example flammable, corrosive, toxic or carcinogenic) or if it carries an “absolute” hazardous entry on the List of Waste.
In practice this captures much of what passes through a COSHH-controlled workplace once it is discarded: solvents and paints, waste oils, contaminated absorbents and rags, spent chemicals, hazardous parts of end-of-life vehicles and electrical equipment, batteries, and healthcare wastes. Many EWC entries are “mirror” codes, where the same material may be hazardous or non-hazardous depending on the concentration of dangerous substances it contains — which is why assessing the waste correctly under WM3, rather than guessing, is the first duty-of-care step. Asbestos waste carries its own EWC codes and is handled under separate asbestos rules; it is only mentioned here as a classification example, and the tonnages sit with our sister asbestos statistics guide.
What types of hazardous waste does the UK produce most?
Discarded vehicles dominate. End-of-life vehicles were England’s single largest hazardous waste category in 2022 at 1,307,828 tonnes — around 36% of all hazardous arisings — because a scrapped car contains oils, brake and coolant fluids, batteries and other hazardous components until it is depolluted (Defra dataset, 2022 data). After vehicles, the next largest streams were chemical wastes at 565,952 tonnes and contaminated soils at 455,330 tonnes.
Two waste streams that map directly onto COSHH-controlled products in daily use are discarded equipment — hazardous waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) — at 403,121 tonnes, and used oils at 210,084 tonnes in England in 2022. Batteries and accumulators added 134,927 tonnes and healthcare and biological wastes 106,666 tonnes in the same year (all Defra, 2022 data). The table below sets out the largest English streams.
| Hazardous waste category (England) | Tonnes | Data period |
|---|---|---|
| Discarded (end-of-life) vehicles | 1,307,828 | 2022 |
| Chemical wastes | 565,952 | 2022 |
| Contaminated soils | 455,330 | 2022 |
| Discarded equipment (hazardous WEEE) | 403,121 | 2022 |
| Used oils | 210,084 | 2022 |
| Batteries & accumulators | 134,927 | 2022 |
| Healthcare & biological wastes | 106,666 | 2022 |
| All hazardous waste generated | 3,624,269 | 2022 |
Which sectors produce the most hazardous waste?
Construction is the biggest identifiable source. The construction sector produced 550,300 tonnes of hazardous waste in England in 2022, around 15% of the national total, reflecting contaminated soils, treated timber, asbestos-containing materials and packaging from building and demolition work (Defra dataset, 2022 data). Households produced a further 224,146 tonnes — the hazardous fraction of domestic waste, from paints and solvents to fluorescent tubes, batteries and end-of-life electricals.
The sector picture varies by nation. In Scotland, 86.9% of the 410,000 tonnes of special waste generated in 2023 (about 357,000 tonnes) came from commercial and industrial sources rather than households or construction (SEPA, 2023 data). In Wales, the most recent estimates come from Natural Resources Wales survey work rather than continuous reporting: Welsh industry and commerce generated an estimated 225,000 tonnes of hazardous waste in 2018 — 8% of the 2.9 million tonnes of industrial and commercial waste — while Welsh construction and demolition generated an estimated 116,000 tonnes in 2019. Because the Welsh figures come from periodic surveys carried out roughly every six years, they are estimates and are older than the English and Scottish counts, so they should be read as an order of magnitude rather than a precise annual figure.
How is hazardous waste disposed of in the UK?
Landfill still takes the largest share. Of the 2,158,142 tonnes of hazardous waste reaching final treatment in England in 2022, 982,595 tonnes — 45.5% — was deposited onto or into land, meaning landfill (Defra dataset, Waste treatment sheet, 2022 data). A further 761,918 tonnes (35.3%) went to non-energy recovery such as recycling and reprocessing, 306,729 tonnes (14.2%) was incinerated, and just 39,072 tonnes (1.8%) went to energy recovery. In other words, nearly half of England’s hazardous waste that reaches final treatment is still buried rather than recovered — a figure worth keeping in mind against the general direction of travel away from landfill for ordinary waste.
Scotland shows how sharply landfill can fall. Some 60,400 tonnes of Scottish hazardous waste went to landfill in 2023 — 3.3% of all waste landfilled — but in 2024 this dropped to 29,900 tonnes, or 1.6% of the total, a 31.8% year-on-year fall (SEPA waste-landfilled releases, 2023 and 2024 data). Scottish incineration of hazardous waste has all but disappeared: just 2 tonnes were incinerated in 2024, down from roughly 12,000 tonnes in 2011 (SEPA, 2024 data). The routes chosen depend on the waste type — an oily rag, a solvent and a contaminated soil each follow very different treatment paths — but the England landfill share is the number the waste-management sector watches most closely.
Who is responsible for hazardous waste after it leaves the workplace?
The producer’s duty of care does not end at the gate. Under the duty of care set out in the Environmental Protection Act 1990 and the hazardous waste regulations, the business that produces the waste remains legally responsible for it until it reaches a properly authorised destination — and must check that everyone who handles it in between is authorised too. Every movement of hazardous waste in England must travel with a consignment note, and producers must keep records for at least three years. Only a registered waste carrier may transport it, and only a permitted site may receive it.
This is why the Environment Agency tracks every consignment. Its 2024 Hazardous Waste Interrogator, published on 7 April 2026, is the latest annual dataset of hazardous waste movements in England, and the parallel Waste Data Interrogator covers all waste received at permitted sites (Environment Agency, data.gov.uk). Enforcement of illegal handling — fly-tipping, unpermitted sites and environmental-crime prosecutions — sits outside the scope of this page and belongs with dedicated environmental-crime and fly-tipping coverage. What matters for a COSHH-controlled workplace is upstream of all that: correct WM3 classification, safe segregation and storage of waste substances, a registered carrier and a completed consignment note. Getting the segregation and storage right starts with the same controls that apply to the substances in use — see our guide to COSHH storage requirements.
Frequently asked questions
How much hazardous waste does the UK produce each year?
England generated about 3.6 million tonnes (3,624,269 tonnes) of hazardous waste in 2022 — roughly 1.9% of all waste generated. The most recent whole-UK figure is 5.4 million tonnes in 2020 (about 2.8% of the UK total). The two figures differ in year because the four nations publish on different schedules, with a two- to three-year data lag.
What counts as hazardous waste in the UK (WM3 and EWC codes)?
Waste is classified using the List of Waste — six-digit European Waste Catalogue (EWC) codes — plus the WM3 technical guidance. A waste is hazardous if it has one or more hazardous properties (HP1–HP15, such as flammable, corrosive or toxic) or an absolute hazardous entry on the List of Waste. Common examples include solvents, waste oils, hazardous WEEE, batteries and contaminated soils.
How is hazardous waste disposed of in the UK?
Of the hazardous waste reaching final treatment in England in 2022, 45.5% went to landfill, 35.3% to non-energy recovery (recycling and reprocessing), 14.2% to incineration and 1.8% to energy recovery. The route depends on the waste type, and it varies by nation — Scotland sends far less to landfill and almost nothing to incineration.
Who is responsible for hazardous waste after it leaves the workplace?
The producer keeps a legal duty of care until the waste reaches a properly authorised destination, and must use a registered carrier and a permitted site. Every movement in England travels with a consignment note, and producers must keep the records for at least three years. The Environment Agency tracks every consignment through its Hazardous Waste Interrogator.
How often are these statistics updated?
Defra’s UK Statistics on Waste is published each July (currently England to 2022, UK to 2020), the Environment Agency’s Hazardous Waste Interrogator refreshes each spring, and SEPA’s Scottish releases arrive over the summer and autumn. Natural Resources Wales relies on periodic surveys, so its figures are older. This page is refreshed each summer as the new releases land.
Related guides
- COSHH Statistics UK: Hazardous Substances at Work
- Silica Dust Statistics UK: Exposure, Silicosis & Deaths
- Occupational Dermatitis Statistics UK: Work-Related Skin Disease
- COSHH Storage Requirements: Safe Storage of Hazardous Substances
- What Substances Are Covered by COSHH? (And What Isn’t)
Sources & references
- Defra — UK Statistics on Waste (release and datasets)
- Defra — UK Statistics on Waste dataset, July 2025 (hazardous generation and treatment sheets)
- Environment Agency — 2024 Hazardous Waste Interrogator (England movements)
- Environment Agency — 2024 Waste Data Interrogator (all permitted-site waste, England)
- SEPA — Waste from all sources generated and managed (Scotland)
- SEPA — Waste landfilled and incinerated in Scotland
- Natural Resources Wales — Industrial & Commercial Waste Survey (and C&D survey)
- Environment Agency / SEPA / NRW / NIEA — WM3 Waste Classification technical guidance
- GOV.UK — Dispose of hazardous waste (duty of care and consignment notes)
Safe waste disposal starts with controlling the substances upstream — make sure your team can classify, segregate and handle hazardous substances correctly.
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Mark writes about workplace health & safety, COSHH and accredited online training for COSHH Training, part of Online CPD Academy.