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Hazardous waste consignee returns: a guide for receiving sites

By the Tippa team · Last reviewed

In short: if your site receives or rejects hazardous waste in England or Wales, you are a consignee. You must send a return every quarter, within one month of the quarter ending, to the Environment Agency (England) or Natural Resources Wales (Wales), and a separate return to the producer or holder. Scotland and Northern Ireland work differently: the consignee sends a completed copy of each consignment note to SEPA or NIEA.

What a consignee return is and who sends one

A consignee return is a report on any hazardous waste received, treated or disposed of by a business. In England the rules are in the Hazardous Waste (England and Wales) Regulations 2005, which, despite the name, largely do not apply in Wales. Wales has its own Hazardous Waste (Wales) Regulations 2005, with returns made to Natural Resources Wales (NRW).

You are a consignee if you receive (or reject) any hazardous waste. That includes a permitted or exempt facility taking waste from others, a site that rejects hazardous waste, a service depot receiving waste its staff produced at customers' premises, and a business moving its own waste between its premises. NRW's list for Wales is much the same. In both nations, disposing of your own hazardous waste where it was produced, for example by landfill, also needs a return.

Scotland and Northern Ireland

In Scotland, hazardous waste is called "special waste", regulated by SEPA under the Special Waste Regulations 1996. On receiving a consignment, the consignee must complete Part E and "forthwith" send one copy to SEPA. SEPA currently asks for completed notes to be sent electronically to swcnreturns@sepa.org.uk.

In Northern Ireland, the consignee must likewise "forthwith furnish one copy" of the completed note to the Department (DAERA, whose Northern Ireland Environment Agency runs consignment notes).

Deadlines, fees and penalties

Deadlines are set in law and are the same in England and Wales:

QuarterReturn due by
1 January to 31 March30 April
1 April to 30 June31 July
1 July to 30 September31 October
1 October to 31 December31 January the following year

So the July to September 2026 return is due by 31 October 2026. Fees are charged per consignment. The EA and NRW charge the same amounts:

TypeElectronic returnPaper return
Single consignment£10£19
Part of a multiple collection£5£10

In Wales, a null return (no consignments that quarter) is free, and you must still send one. The law lets a consignee recover these fees from the consignor who sent the waste.

Failing to send either return is an offence. In England it can lead to a fine on summary conviction (level 5 on the standard scale), or the EA can offer a £300 fixed penalty instead. A fixed penalty can also be offered for a false or misleading statement on a return. The Welsh regulations have matching provisions for NRW.

What goes in a return

NRW's guidance lists the details needed for each consignment field by field:

  • the consignment note code
  • whether it was a single or multiple collection (with round and collection numbers if multiple)
  • the date received
  • the producer's postcode (in England, the postcode from Part A2, where the waste was collected)
  • the List of Waste (EWC) code for each hazardous waste
  • every hazard code that applies (HP1 to HP15), plus POP for persistent organic pollutants
  • the physical form: gas, liquid, solid, powder, sludge or mixed
  • the quantity in kilograms
  • the recovery or disposal (R or D) code applied, or REJ if rejected

If a consignment holds more than one waste, or one waste goes to more than one recovery or disposal operation, add each as a separate waste line. The EA lists common errors as tonnes entered instead of kg and a wrong producer postcode.

If you receive waste under two or more permits or exemptions at the same site, send a separate return for each authorisation. Some streams, such as fluorescent tubes, qualify for reduced reporting and charges if the guidance's conditions are met.

Rejected and partly rejected loads

You must include rejected consignments on your return, even if your site has no permit to accept that waste. There is no fee for rejected waste. In England:

  • With a correct consignment note number: enter REJ as the mode of disposal and fill in everything else, including quantity, as if you had accepted it.
  • With no note, or a missing or wrong number: use the REJECT/YYYYY code from the written explanation you created when you rejected it, and enter REJ.
  • Rejected, then accepted on a new note: enter two lines, one for the rejection and one for the accepted load. The accepted load is charged.

If a consignment contains two or more wastes, you may reject only some of them. If consignments have been mixed, for example in a tanker, reject them all. NRW's template also uses REJ for rejected waste.

A note error found after signing Part E goes on twice: the original details under the original code, and the corrected details under the same code with "R" added.

Multiple collections (rounds)

A multiple collection is waste collected from two or more premises in a single journey, by a single carrier, all taken to the same consignee. The carrier enters a round number, agreed with you so it is unique, and a collection number for the order of each stop. On your return, enter the collections in sequential lines until the whole round is in. Each consignment in the round is charged at the lower multiple-collection rate.

NRW uses the same idea: a multiple collection is from two or more locations on the same day, with round and collection numbers.

Multiple collections apply only to England or Wales. For consignments from Scotland or Northern Ireland, mark the type as "single" and convert the note code (for example, SA3876543 becomes SCA038/76543).

How to submit

England: Environment Agency

Use the EA's consignee returns spreadsheet. It needs Windows and macros enabled in Excel. Add each consignment, press "validate", then "create return" and email the file to hazwastereturn@environment-agency.gov.uk. You can also email an XML return there, or ask for a paper form on 03708 506 506 (paper costs more).

To fix a mistake or a missed consignment, correct and resubmit the return, then phone the EA to cancel the old one and confirm by email.

Wales: Natural Resources Wales

Download NRW's spreadsheet template, complete it, then upload it to NRW's online checker. It shows which rows have errors. Once there are none, you can submit.

Waste from elsewhere in the UK

An English consignee receiving waste from Scotland or Northern Ireland must also send a completed copy of the note to SEPA or NIEA, and still report it on EA and producer returns. Waste from Wales is entered the same way as waste from England.

Your return to the producer or holder

You must send a return to the producer or holder within one month of the end of the quarter in which you accepted the waste. Wales has the same rule. In Northern Ireland it is within 30 days of accepting the consignment.

In England, send it to the producer named in Part A4, or the business in Part A2 if no producer is named. If the consignor is someone else, they get one too. It must be a separate return, not a copy of the one you send the EA. You can either:

  • use the format set out in the regulations (note number, date received, EWC and hazard codes, physical form, quantity in kg and R or D code, among others), or
  • send a copy of the fully completed consignment note plus a description of the recovery or disposal method for each waste.

You must send it even when the producer and consignee are part of the same organisation. Producers are told to contact the EA and stop using a waste business that does not provide returns.

Practical checklist

  1. Check each note and load before signing Part E. Once signed as accepted, you cannot later reject it.
  2. Record each delivery's weight in kg, waste description, producer details and recovery or disposal method.
  3. Keep a written explanation and REJECT code for any load arriving without a note.
  4. Put the deadlines in the diary: 30 April, 31 July, 31 October, 31 January.
  5. Use the Part A2 postcode and kg, enter rejected loads with REJ, and keep each round's collections in sequential lines.
  6. Send one return per permit or exemption, and validate (EA) or run NRW's checker first.
  7. Send a separate return to each producer, holder and consignor within one month of the quarter ending.
  8. For Scottish or Northern Irish waste, also send the completed note to SEPA or NIEA.

Common questions

Who has to send a hazardous waste consignee return?

In England and Wales, anyone who receives (or rejects) any hazardous waste is a consignee and must send one. That includes a site that rejects hazardous waste and a business moving its own waste between its premises. Scotland and Northern Ireland work differently: the consignee sends a completed copy of each consignment note to SEPA or NIEA.

When are hazardous waste consignee returns due?

Within one month of the end of each quarter: by 30 April, 31 July, 31 October and 31 January, the same in England and Wales. For example, the July to September 2026 return is due by 31 October 2026.

How much does a hazardous waste consignee return cost?

Fees are per consignment: £10 for a single consignment or £5 for one that is part of a multiple collection on an electronic return, and £19 or £10 on paper, and NRW charges the same in Wales. There is no fee for rejected waste, and in Wales a null return is free, and you must still send one.

Do you have to report rejected hazardous waste on a consignee return?

Yes. You must include rejected consignments on your return, even if your site has no permit to accept that waste, and there is no fee for them. In England, if the consignment note number is correct, enter REJ as the mode of disposal and fill in everything else, including quantity, as if you had accepted it.

What happens if you don't send a consignee return?

Failing to send one is an offence. In England it can lead to a fine on summary conviction (level 5 on the standard scale), or the Environment Agency can offer a £300 fixed penalty instead. The Welsh regulations have matching provisions for NRW.

Check the official guidance

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

How Tippa helps

Tippa builds your consignee return from the hazardous waste you've recorded receiving, in the file format the Environment Agency's own tool produces, and can email it to the EA for you. Sites in Wales get Natural Resources Wales's own template to upload. In Scotland and Northern Ireland, Tippa emails SEPA or NIEA a completed copy of each consignment note as the load is booked in (on SEPA's own Excel note), with any photos you add of the signed paper note.

  • Rejected hazardous loads are included, as the return requires.
  • Waste from Scotland or Northern Ireland received in England or Wales gets its copy to SEPA or NIEA too.
  • Anything missing, such as a producer postcode, is flagged before you send, with a way to fix it.
  • Every return you send is kept, so you can see what went and when.
  • Your dashboard reminds you when a site's return is due, free.

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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.