Digital Waste Tracking Requirements: What You Must Record
Digital waste tracking requirements set out exactly what you must record for each load you receive, from where it came from and who carried it to the EWC code, weight and how it will be recovered or disposed of. Get these right at the point of capture and reporting becomes automatic.
Last reviewed: 16 October 2026
Digital Waste Tracking Requirements for Every Load
Digital waste tracking requirements set out exactly what you must record for each load you receive: where it came from, who carried it, the EWC code, the weight and how it will be recovered or disposed of, reported within 2 working days of receipt.
These requirements apply under Phase 1 to licensed and permitted waste receiving sites in England and Wales from 1 October 2026, and in Scotland and Northern Ireland from 1 January 2027, with waste carriers, brokers and dealers planned to follow from October 2027. Getting the fields right at the point of capture, rather than reconstructing them later from memory or a paper slip, is what makes reporting straightforward instead of a weekly scramble.
Around 12,000 permitted waste sites and 150,000 exemption holders fall within scope across the phases, alongside roughly 300,000 registered carriers, brokers and dealers, so the requirements are designed to work for a wide range of business sizes, from single-site operators to large multi-depot carriers.
Receiving Site and Carrier Details
Every record needs the receiving site's details, the carrier's registration number and, usually, the vehicle registration used to transport the waste, so the chain of custody is clear from collection to receipt.
If you operate a permitted site, your own site reference is recorded against each load. Where a third-party carrier delivers controlled waste to you, their carrier registration should be checked and logged as part of your duty of care obligations, whether they hold an upper tier or lower tier waste carriers licence.
Capturing these details digitally at the point of collection, rather than on a paper slip that gets typed up later, cuts down on the kind of transcription errors that cause records to be rejected or queried.
Waste Descriptions and EWC Codes
Every load needs a clear waste description and the correct European Waste Catalogue (EWC) code, which identifies exactly what kind of waste it is.
EWC codes must always be confirmed against the current List of Wastes rather than assumed from memory or a previous job, because getting the wrong code can affect how the waste is handled, reported and, where relevant, whether it's treated as hazardous.
A bespoke app can hold your most commonly used EWC codes ready to select, which speeds up data entry for drivers while still allowing office staff to review and confirm codes against the List of Wastes.
Weights and Estimates
An accurate weight, or a reasonable estimate where exact weighing isn't practical, has to be recorded for every load, since reporting relies on this figure being as close to reality as possible.
Where waste is measured in another unit, such as litres for liquid waste, it should be converted to a weight consistently so your records line up with what the receiving site reports and what the Receipt of Waste API expects.
Submission can go via the Receipt of Waste API directly, or via Defra's spreadsheet route, which is a temporary option expected to remain available until at least October 2027. Either way, the weight recorded has to be consistent with what's on the waste transfer note for the same load.
Disposal and Recovery Codes
R and D codes describe what happens to waste once it's received, R codes for recovery operations such as recycling or energy recovery, and D codes for disposal such as landfill.
Recording the correct code matters because it tells the regulator, whether that's the Environment Agency, Natural Resources Wales, SEPA or DAERA/NIEA depending on where you operate, how the waste was actually managed, not just that it was received.
Mismatched R and D codes between what was agreed with the receiving site and what's actually reported are a common source of queries, so it helps to agree these codes with your waste management partner in advance rather than guessing at the point of reporting.
Hazardous Waste and POPs Details
Hazardous waste needs extra detail recorded: its hazardous properties and, where relevant, whether it contains Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs), alongside the consignment code used for hazardous waste movements.
These details sit alongside, not instead of, your existing hazardous waste consignment note obligations. Existing waste transfer notes and returns continue alongside digital waste tracking until further notice, so hazardous waste paperwork doesn't disappear just because reporting goes digital.
Keeping hazardous and non-hazardous records clearly separated in your system avoids a POPs-containing load being reported as though it were ordinary controlled waste, which can have knock-on effects for how it's handled downstream.
Common Validation Errors
The most common errors are mismatched or outdated EWC codes, carrier registration numbers that don't match what's on record, weights entered in the wrong unit, and records submitted after the 2 working day deadline, which runs from the day after the waste is received, excluding weekends and bank holidays.
If your reporting system goes down, you're expected to make a written record within 2 working days and transfer it to the service within 7 working days of the outage being resolved, so even a system outage doesn't excuse missing or late data. Capturing the right fields at the point of collection, rather than retyping them from a paper note later, removes most of these errors before they happen. See our Defra API integration feature, explore our digital waste tracking overview, or get a free readiness check.
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