HP5: Specific target organ / aspiration toxicity
Waste that harms particular organs, or is dangerous if breathed into the lungs.
What HP5 means
HP5 covers waste that can harm a particular organ, from a single exposure or from repeated ones, and waste that is dangerous if it's breathed into the lungs while being swallowed or vomited (aspiration).
The HP5 thresholds
Each limit applies to any one substance, apart from H304, which is added up across the waste. There's no cut-off.
| Hazard statement | Makes the waste HP |
|---|---|
| H370 (organ damage, single exposure, category 1) | 1% or more |
| H371 (organ damage, single exposure, category 2) | 10% or more |
| H335 (respiratory irritation, single exposure, category 3) | 20% or more |
| H372 (organ damage, repeated exposure, category 1) | 1% or more |
| H373 (organ damage, repeated exposure, category 2) | 10% or more |
| H304 (aspiration, category 1) | 10% or more in total |
H304 only makes a waste HP5 if the waste is runny enough to be breathed in: an overall kinematic viscosity at 40°C of 20.5 mm²/s or less. That's only measured for fluids.
Where you're likely to meet it
- Waste oils, which WM3 says are generally considered HP5, HP7 and HP14.
- Waste contaminated with oil whose identity isn't known (other than diesel): WM3 assumes the oil carries H304 and H373, so total petroleum hydrocarbons of 10% or more make the waste HP5.
What it changes when the waste moves
A waste needs only one hazardous property to be hazardous waste. In England and Wales it then moves on a hazardous waste consignment note in place of a waste transfer note, and the note goes with the load to the site that receives it.
On Digital Waste Tracking, the site that receives a hazardous load records its HP codes alongside the EWC code (the six-digit code from the List of Wastes that says what a waste is).
Sources
- WM3: Waste classification technical guidance (v1.2.GB): Appendix C5, pages C20 to C21; oils, pages 28 to 29
- Annex III to the Waste Framework Directive (HP1 to HP15)
- GOV.UK: Hazardous waste consignment notes
- The Digital Waste Tracking (England) Regulations 2026: the paragraphs on hazardous properties and POPs, 15 and 16
This page explains the rules. Check the waste itself against WM3 before it moves.
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CarrierNote is on the GOV.UK software provider list, connected to DEFRA's Digital Waste Tracking service. Receiving sites are in scope from October 2026 and carriers from October 2027, and you can be recording to DEFRA's standard from your first load, whenever you start.