Digital Waste Tracking: what it is and when it starts

Digital Waste Tracking (DWT) is the biggest change to UK waste compliance in a generation. It moves the paper trail — waste transfer notes and hazardous waste consignment notes — into a single government digital service. Here is exactly what it is, who it affects, and when.

What is Digital Waste Tracking?

It is being introduced by DEFRA (with the environmental regulators across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland) to give a single, accurate picture of waste from the point it is produced to its final destination. The aim is to cut waste crime, improve recycling data, and remove the duplicated paperwork that duty of care currently requires.

When does Digital Waste Tracking start?

This staggered rollout is the single most misunderstood part of the scheme — many summaries collapse it into one 2026 date. The two dates matter because most waste firms are one or the other first, and some (like a skip-hire company that also runs a permitted transfer station) are both.

Two nuances worth knowing: in Scotland the receiver deadline is January 2027 rather than October 2026, and receiving sites must submit each receipt to the service within 48 hours of the waste arriving.

What does Digital Waste Tracking replace?

Once you are in scope, a record in the tracking service takes the place of the paper documents you use today:

• →Waste transfer notes (WTNs) for non-hazardous waste.
• →Hazardous waste consignment notes for hazardous waste.
• →The season-ticket / annual transfer note arrangements for repeat collections.

Until your start date, the existing duty-of-care rules still apply — you must keep waste transfer notes for at least 2 years and hazardous waste consignment notes for at least 3 years.

How do you record a movement?

Movements can be entered directly into the government service, or — more practically for a busy operation — submitted automatically from your own software through DEFRA's API. For permitted receiving sites, the Receipt of Waste API lets approved software send each received load straight to the tracking service, with the waste codes, quantities, carrier and hazardous details validated on the way in.

How to prepare for Digital Waste Tracking

• →Work out whether you are a receiver, a carrier, or both — that sets your deadline (2026 vs 2027).
• →Get your waste data clean: correct EWC codes, quantities, and carrier registration details, since the service validates them.
• →Move off paper early. Firms already capturing digital waste transfer notes will simply switch the destination to the tracking service — there is no data to re-key.
• →Choose software that is DWT-ready and integrates with the API, rather than re-typing every movement into the government portal.