Digital waste tracking: what UK waste receivers must report

In short: if you hold a permit or licence to receive controlled waste, you must report every load you receive to Defra's Report receipt of waste service. This is mandatory from October 2026 in England and Wales, and from January 2027 in Scotland and Northern Ireland. Each record is due within 2 working days, and your paper notes and permit returns carry on as before for now.

What is digital waste tracking?

Digital waste tracking is a UK-wide project to record waste movements online. SEPA describes its aim as to "join up and eventually replace, multiple existing outdated paper-based systems". All four UK governments agreed to work together on a single UK-wide system.

The main reason is waste crime. Defra estimates that waste crime and poorly performing sites cost the UK economy £1 billion a year. With load-by-load data, regulators at roadside checks will be able to check quickly whether waste is going to a legitimate site. They will also be able to spot a site taking more waste than its permit allows.

The service is being built in phases. Phase 1 covers waste receiving sites and the waste they receive.

Who must report, and from when

If you are licensed or permitted to receive controlled waste, you must enter details of every load you receive. In England and Wales this applies to all permitted operations, installations and mobile plants. It also covers permitted sites on the same site where the waste is produced. Most household, commercial and industrial waste counts as controlled waste.

The start date and the regulator depend on where your site is.

Nation	Mandatory from	Regulator	Notes
England	1 October 2026	Environment Agency	Household waste from residents at an HWRC is not reported.
Wales	1 October 2026	Natural Resources Wales	HWRCs are not in scope in Wales.
Scotland	1 January 2027	SEPA	Phase 1 applies only to permitted facilities receiving controlled waste. Local authority permits for HWRCs and bulking transfer stations are excluded, as are former exempt sites and registration-level authorisations.
Northern Ireland	January 2027	DAERA	Phase 1 is for waste receivers only.

If you can't use digital tools

You only count as digitally excluded in narrow cases, for example if age, disability or location makes digital tools impractical. Preferring paper, being unfamiliar with software or the extra time and cost do not count. If you qualify, you need a digitally excluded number from your regulator and must keep written records instead, for at least 3 years.

What you report for each load

The full list is in Schedule 1 of the England regulations (the Wales regulations have their own Schedule 1). GOV.UK says the data requirements are also set out in Defra's template spreadsheet. In plain terms, for each load you record:

Your details: operator name, environmental permit number and site address. Mobile plant needing deployment approval also gives its deployment reference and site.
When it arrived: the date and time the waste was received.
Who brought it: the carrier's name and carrier registration number, or the reason they have none.
Any broker or dealer: their name, address and registration number, if someone arranged the transport for another person.
How it travelled: the mode of transport (road, rail, sea and so on) and, for road, the registration of each vehicle.
The waste itself: a description, the waste code(s) (also called EWC or LoW codes) and, for each code, the total weight, the units and whether the weight is estimated or actual.
What happens to it: the D (disposal) or R (recovery) code and the weight it applies to.
Containers: the type and number used for each waste code.
Hazardous waste: the consignment note code (or why there isn't one), the HP codes, and the components and concentrations behind each.
POPs: the name and concentration of any persistent organic pollutant listed in the POPs Regulation, or the reason you can't give it.
Physical form (gas, liquid, solid, powder, sludge or mixed) and any special handling needs.

If one load of hazardous waste arrives with several consignment notes, you enter each note's waste as a separate entry.

Deadlines and mistakes

You must submit each record within 2 working days, starting the day after the waste arrives. Weekends and bank holidays don't count. GOV.UK's example: waste received at 9am on Monday must be submitted, with a unique reference number back, by 11:59pm on Wednesday.

If the service or your software tells you a submission has an error, fix it within the same 2 working days. If you find a mistake later, correct it as soon as you can and always within 1 month of finding it. If an outage stops you submitting, tell your regulator, keep a written record within 2 working days, and enter it within 7 working days of the outage ending.

Not complying is an offence. In England and Wales, penalties include a fixed monetary penalty of £1,000, unlimited variable penalties and prosecution.

How to register and get your API code

Create a Defra account. The first time you use the Report receipt of waste service, you sign in with your organisation's Government Gateway or GOV.UK One Login account, or create one. Never use a personal Government Gateway account.
Register your organisation. If you run more than one organisation that receives waste, such as a subsidiary, register each one separately and add it to the same Defra account.
Get your API code. Once your organisation is registered, you are given a unique API code. Give it to your software provider, who applies it to your waste movements.

One API code covers every site your organisation operates. Each separate organisation on your account gets its own code.

What it costs

The service costs £26 a year for each organisation, covering all of that organisation's waste-receiving sites. The first payment is due by 31 January 2027, and you pay the full amount even if you register later in the year.

The two ways to send your data

GOV.UK gives two ways to report, and you can use a mix of both:

Through software, using the API. Your waste software connects to Defra's Receipt of Waste API and sends each record for you. GOV.UK publishes a list of compatible software providers.
Using Defra's spreadsheet. Download the template, fill in the mandatory fields and upload it. One spreadsheet can hold many movements and several sites. You can't use your own spreadsheet or change Defra's format, and you need a fresh one after each submission.

The spreadsheet is a stopgap. Defra calls it a temporary solution for receivers without software and expects it to stay until at least October 2027. The Welsh Government says the API is the primary submission route and expects an API route to be needed by then.

What it doesn't change (yet)

For now, digital tracking sits alongside the existing paperwork. In England and Wales, GOV.UK says until further notice you must still:

complete waste transfer notes, Annex VII forms and hazardous waste consignment notes where required
submit waste returns in line with your environmental permit
submit hazardous waste consignee returns, and charges still apply

Government and the regulators will be developing transition plans to move from data returns to the service data. In Scotland, SEPA says the new regulations will not immediately remove or change any existing duty of care or waste reporting requirements.

What's next

Phase 2 extends tracking to waste carriers, brokers and dealers. Defra's planned timeline is:

from autumn 2026: open to an invited group of waste collectors (private beta)
from spring 2027: open to all waste collectors (public beta)
from October 2027: mandatory for waste collectors

These are planned dates. SEPA says Scotland's phase 2 regulations are under development and expected to come into force in October 2027. DAERA says phase 2 for the rest of the industry has a mandatory date planned for October 2027 in Northern Ireland.

Waste exemptions are not in phase 1 and will be included in a later phase. The policy paper gives no date for this.

Every date, for each nation and with its source, is on our digital waste tracking timeline, which we update when Defra or a regulator announces a change.

What to do now

Check your site is in scope using the GOV.UK checker guidance, or SEPA's guidance in Scotland.
Create your Defra account with your organisation's Government Gateway or GOV.UK One Login account, not a personal one.
Register each organisation that receives waste and note its API code.
Decide how you'll submit: software through the API, or Defra's spreadsheet for now.
If using software, give your provider your API code.
Make sure staff capture every Schedule 1 item at the gate, including vehicle registrations, carrier numbers and waste codes.
Set up a routine to submit within 2 working days and to fix flagged errors in the same window.
Keep doing waste transfer notes, consignment notes, permit returns and consignee returns.
Budget £26 a year per organisation, first due by 31 January 2027.
Carriers, brokers and dealers: watch for phase 2, planned for October 2027.

Common questions

When does digital waste tracking become mandatory?

For waste receivers, it is mandatory from 1 October 2026 in England and 1 October 2026 in Wales, 1 January 2027 in Scotland and January 2027 in Northern Ireland. For waste carriers, brokers and dealers it is planned from October 2027.

Who has to report waste to the Report receipt of waste service?

Anyone licensed or permitted to receive controlled waste must enter details of every load they receive. Most household, commercial and industrial waste counts as controlled waste.

How much does digital waste tracking cost?

How long do I have to report a load of waste?

You must submit each record within 2 working days, starting the day after the waste arrives, and weekends and bank holidays don't count. So waste received at 9am on Monday must be submitted, with a unique reference number back, by 11:59pm on Wednesday.

Do I still need waste transfer notes and waste returns?

Yes, for now. In England and Wales you must until further notice still complete waste transfer notes and hazardous waste consignment notes where required, submit waste returns in line with your permit, and submit hazardous waste consignee returns.

Check the official guidance

This guide is based on these pages. Rules change, so check them for the latest position.

Report receipt of waste (GOV.UK / Defra)
Digital waste tracking: check if you need to report the waste you receive (GOV.UK / Defra)
Developing the digital waste tracking service (GOV.UK / Defra and Environment Agency)
The Digital Waste Tracking (England) Regulations 2026 (legislation.gov.uk)
The Digital Waste Tracking (England) Regulations 2026, Schedule 1 (legislation.gov.uk)
The Digital Waste Tracking (Wales) Regulations 2026 (legislation.gov.uk)
The Digital Waste Tracking (Scotland) Regulations 2026 (legislation.gov.uk)
Mandatory digital waste tracking system (Welsh Government)
Digital waste tracking (SEPA)
Digital Waste Tracking (DAERA)

How Tippa helps

Tippa reports each load you receive to Defra's Digital Waste Tracking service for you, straight from the receipt you're already recording. Enter your Defra API code once; each receipt is sent when the load is received, and if you change it later, the change is sent too.

Tippa doesn't charge for reporting to Defra, on any plan, and never will. (Defra's own £26 a year is separate.)
EWC codes, container types and the other codes come from Defra's own lists, so what you record is what Defra accepts.
Every carrier's registration is checked on the public registers as you record the load.
Rejected waste isn't reported, and quarantined waste waits until you've decided.

Start using Tippa — free How Tippa reports to Defra

This guide is general information about UK waste rules, not legal or regulatory advice. You remain responsible for meeting the duties that apply to your business; check the official guidance above and take professional advice where you need it.