Mandatory Digital Waste Tracking: Dates, Phases and Who's in Scope

Mandatory digital waste tracking is being rolled out in phases rather than all at once. Phase 1 covers licensed and permitted waste receiving sites, starting 1 October 2026 in England and Wales and 1 January 2027 in Scotland and Northern Ireland. Phase 2 is planned to bring in waste carriers, brokers and dealers from October 2027, following a public beta in spring 2027. Later phases will cover waste exemptions and green list (Article 18) waste.

Around 12,000 permitted waste sites, 150,000 exemption holders and 300,000 registered carriers, brokers and dealers are expected to be affected across the UK over the full rollout.

Phase 2 is planned to extend mandatory digital waste tracking to waste carriers, brokers and dealers from October 2027. A private beta is expected from autumn 2026, moving to a public beta in spring 2027 ahead of the full rollout. Around 300,000 registered carriers, brokers and dealers fall within scope of this phase.

A government fee of £26 per year per organisation is expected to apply, covering all of that organisation's sites, with the first payment due by 31 January 2027.

Waste exemptions and green list (Article 18) waste are planned for later phases, with no confirmed date yet. If you hold a waste exemption rather than a permit, it's worth keeping an eye on updates, but there's nothing to act on immediately.

If you run a permitted site, you should already be reporting under Phase 1. If you're a carrier, broker or dealer, Phase 2 gives you time to prepare, but waiting until October 2027 to start means learning a new process under deadline pressure. Moving your waste transfer notes and records digital now, so they're ready to connect to Defra's Receipt of Waste API, is the simplest way to be ready early.

We build bespoke apps that handle this end to end: digital waste transfer notes, routes, drivers and Defra reporting in one system, connected to the Receipt of Waste API.