EWC Chapter
Wastes from chemical surface treatment and coating of metals and other materials
Codes Available
2
Non-Hazardous
2
Chapter Number
11
Wastes from chemical surface treatment and coating of metals and other materials (e.g. galvanic processes, zinc coating, pickling, etching, phosphating)
Wastes from non-electrolytic metal surface treatment processes
Wastes from chemical surface treatment of metals — spent pickle liquors, plating baths and treatment sludges — were neutralised and landfilled because their strong acid or alkaline matrix and dissolved-metal load made direct reuse hazardous and off-spec.
Spent pickle liquor from steel finishing is regenerable: acid-recovery (roasting/retardation) returns usable acid while precipitating iron oxide for pigment or ferrite feedstock, and the metal fraction of treatment sludges can route to secondary smelting once the matrix is neutralised to receiver limits.
Recognized recovery routes for this waste family, ranked by typical recovery tier. Which route fits depends on your specific stream — composition, volume and region.
Metal-bearing industry residues — furnace dusts, pickle liquors, smelting residues — route to high temperature metals recovery, where zinc, lead and other metals return to commerce.
40 CFR 268.42 Table 1 — HTMR technology standardProcess residues that still carry recoverable product or feedstock value can be reclaimed — processed to recover a usable material or regenerated for reuse — inside or outside the generating industry.
40 CFR 261.1(c)(4) — reclamationBelow economic metal concentrations, stabilization to the land disposal restriction treatment standard followed by controlled disposal remains the default management route.
40 CFR 268.40 — LDR treatment standardsElectroplating and metal-finishing residues carry recoverable nickel, copper, zinc and cadmium; high temperature metals recovery and hydrometallurgical processing are the established routes.
40 CFR 268.42 Table 1 — HTMR technology standardThese are the typical routes for Wastes from chemical surface treatment and coating of metals and other materials streams. Your stream's actual options depend on its composition and where it sits.
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Source: EUR-Lex Commission Decision 2000/532/EC · NACE Rev.2 — Eurostat 2008
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