Digital Waste Tracking: Tippa's reliability, test results and known gaps
In short: Defra publishes a set of test scenarios, its Production Approval Tests, for software that reports received waste to Digital Waste Tracking. Software providers run them and judge the results themselves. On 27 October 2026 Tippa passed every scenario Defra's service checks, and stopped the two incomplete records it should. Below is how Tippa gets each load to Defra and what happens if one doesn't get through, then the results, the gaps we know of that the tests don't cover, and what stays your responsibility as a waste receiver, whatever software you use.
Getting every load to Defra on time
Each load has to reach Defra by the end of the 2nd working day after it arrives. Here's how Tippa gets each load there, and tells you in time when one hasn't gone through:
- It's sent when you save it. Tippa sends the load to Defra as the receipt is saved and shows the Waste Tracking ID Defra gives back. Until Defra has accepted it, the receipt says so and shows the load's deadline, with weekends and bank holidays left out.
- Mistakes are caught before it's sent. Waste codes and disposal or recovery codes are picked from Defra's own lists, and postcodes, consignment codes, carrier registrations and permit numbers are checked against the formats Defra's service accepts. Every carrier is also checked on the public registers.
- If Defra's service is down, Tippa tries again every hour by itself until the load is accepted. If it still hasn't gone a day later, whoever received the load is emailed, with each load's deadline and whether you need to tell your regulator.
- If Tippa can't send it, we're alerted straight away and it's tried again every hour while we put it right. The receipt and the email say it's our problem, not Defra's, and what to do if a load would miss its deadline: the receipt is the written record the regulations ask you to keep.
- If Defra refuses a load, the receipt says why in plain words and where to correct it, and saving the fix sends it again. If it was refused out of sight, on a retry or a load sent once the signal came back, whoever received it is emailed and the office gets an alert. Fixing a site, customer or your Defra API code sends again every load it held up.
- Nothing waits unseen. The dashboard's Needs Attention lists every load that hasn't gone through, whether Defra refused it, is still being retried or Digital Waste Tracking isn't set up yet, and loads held in quarantine as their deadline nears. A load whose save was cut off before it could be sent is picked up by the hourly retry.
- With no signal, whoever books loads in keeps recording, and Tippa sends each load once the device is back online.
So far, every load our customers have sent to Defra through Tippa has been accepted first time, as of 29 October 2026. We'll keep this page updated as more sites report.
You can see whether Tippa itself is up on our service status page. How Tippa sends what Defra's test scenarios ask for is in our results, below.
Your responsibility, not Defra's or ours
- It isn't Defra's approval. Defra issuing Tippa with production credentials, and listing Tippa on GOV.UK's list of software providers, isn't Defra testing, certifying or approving Tippa, or confirming that it complies with the regulations. The list only confirms that a provider has technically integrated with Defra's API. Don't rely on either as approval.
- Choosing software is your due diligence. It's for you to satisfy yourself that the software you choose records and sends what the regulations ask for. Use the results and the gaps on this page to decide.
- The duty stays with you. As the operator of a permitted site, reporting each load correctly and on time is your legal duty (regulation 4 of the Digital Waste Tracking (England) Regulations 2026, and the same in Wales and Scotland), and so is the liability if it isn't done, whatever limitation or fault there is in the software.
Tippa says the same in its terms, on its Digital Waste Tracking Settings screen, and in the welcome email.
Our latest results
Run on 27 October 2026 in Defra's test environment, against the version of Tippa about to go live. Each receipt was made through Tippa itself, so Tippa's own checks decided what was sent, and Defra's results service gave each scenario's result. Defra doesn't review, mark or approve these results.
| Scenario | What it tests | Result |
|---|---|---|
| R01 | A receipt with one waste item | Pass |
| R02 | A receipt with several waste items, each classified on its own | Pass |
| R03 | Transport by road, with the vehicle registration | Pass |
| R04 | A waste item with no disposal or recovery code (Tippa allows it, warns that the regulations ask for one, and sends the load again when it's added) | Pass |
| R05 | Several disposal or recovery codes on one waste item | Pass |
| R07 | Several EWC codes on one waste item | Pass |
| C01 | A carrier with no registration number and no reason, which should be refused | Refused by Tippa: a carrier can't be saved without a number unless a reason is given |
| C02 | A carrier with no registration number, with the reason | Pass |
| B01 | A broker or dealer | Pass |
| P01 | POPs waste with several POPs components | Pass |
| H01 | Hazardous waste with several hazardous components | Pass |
| H02 | Hazardous waste with no consignment code and no reason, which should be refused | Refused by Tippa: a receipt with hazardous waste needs the code or a reason |
| H03 | Hazardous waste with no consignment code, with the reason | Pass |
| X01 | Waste that is both hazardous and contains POPs | Pass |
No scenario failed, and Tippa supports every one. C01 and H02 test that an incomplete record is stopped. Defra's results service can't check those, because nothing is created, so we record what Tippa did. Defra withdrew R06.
We run the tests again after any change to Tippa that could affect what it records, checks or sends, and update this page each time.
Gaps we know of
None of these is one of Defra's test scenarios, but each could matter to you.
- Numbers Defra doesn't accept yet. Some real registration and permit numbers don't fit the formats Defra's service checks: SEPA's EAS/R carrier registrations and its older WCR/ and /CB numbers, SEPA's EAS/P permits (7 digits; Defra allows 6), registration-level (EAS/R) sites in Scotland, SEPA's PPC Part B permits, and a Northern Irish WML or LN number given on its own. Tippa saves them, since they're right for your regulator's records, and warns you, but a load naming one isn't sent, as Defra would refuse it. You'd need to report it another way. We've asked Defra to accept them.
- Waste held in quarantine waits. Only waste you accept is reported, so a load held in quarantine is sent once you decide what to accept. Its deadline still runs from the day it arrived, and Tippa shows it. Waste you reject outright isn't sent, as Defra's service has no place for it.
- A load can't be withdrawn. Defra's service has no way for software to withdraw or delete a load. If you remove one after Defra has it, Tippa lists it, with Defra's helpdesk number, until you've had Defra correct it.
- Sites that may not need to report are told they do. Tippa decides whether reporting is required by nation and date. A registration-level site, council HWRC or transfer station in Scotland, or a waste disposal authority's site in England, may be outside the duty, and Tippa still asks them to report. We've asked SEPA and Defra.
- Exempt sites. A site needs an environmental permit to be set up in Tippa, so a site with only exemptions can't use it. Defra's service doesn't take exemptions either.
- Northern Ireland. DAERA has announced reporting from January 2027, but its regulations aren't made yet. Tippa sends Northern Irish loads through Defra's service as it is now.
Questions
Ask us through our contact details, or in Tippa from the Help menu. For Defra's own guidance, see Report receipt of waste on GOV.UK and our guide to choosing digital waste tracking software.