Digital Waste Tracking readiness checklist for permitted receiving sites
Last updated 5 October 2026
In short
To comply with Digital Waste Tracking, a permitted receiving site should confirm it is in scope and know its date (receivers required since 1 October 2026 in England and Wales; 1 January 2027 in Northern Ireland and Scotland), clean its reference data, choose how it will submit (the government service or software using the DEFRA Receipt of Waste API), set up gate or weighbridge capture so every receipt is recorded within 2 working days, train its team, capture carrier, vehicle and hazardous details on arrival, and test its flow. DEFRA charges £26 a year per organisation to use the service.
Digital Waste Tracking is now mandatory for permitted receiving sites in England and Wales — the receiver duty came into force on 1 October 2026 (Northern Ireland and Scotland follow on 1 January 2027). This is a practical, step-by-step compliance checklist: what to confirm, what data to clean, and how to get every receipt into the service inside the 2-working-day window.
Receiving sites in England and Wales have had to use Digital Waste Tracking since 1 October 2026 (1 January 2027 in Northern Ireland and Scotland; carriers from October 2027). Each waste receipt must be recorded in the service within 2 working days of the waste arriving. DEFRA charges £26 a year per organisation to use the service.
Is my site compliant with Digital Waste Tracking?
The seven steps below work through that in order. The receiver duty is already in force in England and Wales (Northern Ireland and Scotland follow on 1 January 2027), so if your site is not yet submitting receipts, work through these steps straight away. The Digital Waste Tracking service was available in voluntary public beta from April 2026, so the real service has been testable for some time.
The Digital Waste Tracking compliance checklist
| Step | What to do | Why |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Confirm scope & date | Confirm you operate a permitted or licensed receiving site and are in scope as a receiver. Your date: 1 October 2026 (England and Wales — now in force) or 1 January 2027 (Northern Ireland and Scotland). If you also carry waste, note the separate October 2027 carrier date. | The receiver obligation landed first — up to a year before the carrier one. Knowing the exact date sets your whole timeline. |
| 2. Clean your reference data | Correct your EWC codes, the carrier registration numbers you accept, and your disposal/recovery (D/R) codes. Fix mismatches and retired codes before they reach the service. | The service validates these on submission. Bad reference data means rejected receipts and delays at the gate. |
| 3. Decide how you will submit | Choose between entering receipts directly in the government Digital Waste Tracking service, or using software that submits automatically through DEFRA's Receipt of Waste API. Note the service costs £26 a year per organisation. | The API route avoids re-keying every load into the portal — the difference between a few clicks and manual entry on every arrival. |
| 4. Set up gate/weighbridge capture | Wire the receipt into your gate or weighbridge process so each load is recorded at the point it is booked in, and submitted within 2 working days of arrival. | The 2-working-day clock starts the day after waste arrives. Capturing at the weighbridge is the only reliable way to never miss it. |
| 5. Train your team | Brief weighbridge and gate staff on what to record, how to handle rejections, and the 2-working-day deadline. Give them a fallback for when a code or carrier does not validate. | Compliance happens at the gate, not in the office. The people booking loads in are the ones who keep you compliant. |
| 6. Capture carrier, vehicle & hazardous details | At the point of arrival, capture the carrier's registration number, vehicle registration, and — for hazardous waste — the consignment note code and hazardous properties, alongside the EWC code and quantity. | These are required fields on a receipt. Capturing them on arrival avoids chasing missing details before the 2-working-day window closes. |
| 7. Test your flow end to end | Run real receipts through the live service. Confirm your data validates, submissions land, and staff can handle a full day's loads within 2 working days. | A tested flow means the daily duty is routine rather than a scramble. |
When do receiving sites have to comply with Digital Waste Tracking?
This staggered rollout is the most misunderstood part of the scheme — many summaries collapse it into a single 2026 date. If your business both receives and carries waste, the receiver obligation applied first, so your permitted site needed to be ready a full year before your vehicles do.
How quickly must I submit a waste receipt?
That window is why steps 4 and 5 above matter most. If receipts are logged by hand at the end of the week, some will slip past the 2-working-day window. Capturing at the weighbridge as each load is booked in — ideally straight into software that submits through the Receipt of Waste API — keeps every receipt inside the window without anyone watching the clock.
What information do I need for each receipt?
Each waste receipt carries a set of fields the service validates, so your reference data has to be right before you rely on it:
- EWC code — the correct European Waste Catalogue code for the load.
- Quantity — the weight or volume received.
- Carrier registration number — the registration of the carrier that brought the waste.
- Disposal or recovery (D/R) code — how the waste will be handled.
- Vehicle details — the vehicle that delivered the load.
- Hazardous details — for hazardous waste, the consignment note code and hazardous properties.
Digital Waste Tracking does not replace existing duty-of-care record retention: keep waste transfer notes for at least 2 years and hazardous waste consignment notes for at least 3 years.
This checklist is general guidance to help you prepare and is not legal advice. Check your specific obligations against the primary sources below and, where needed, with your environmental regulator.
Frequently asked questions
- When do receiving sites have to comply with Digital Waste Tracking?
- Permitted and licensed receiving sites in England and Wales have had to use Digital Waste Tracking since 1 October 2026. In Northern Ireland and Scotland the receiver duty starts on 1 January 2027. Waste carriers follow later, from October 2027.
- How quickly must I submit a waste receipt?
- A receiving site must record each waste receipt in the Digital Waste Tracking service within 2 working days (excluding weekends and bank holidays), starting the day after the waste arrives on site.
- Does the Digital Waste Tracking service cost anything?
- Yes. The DEFRA Digital Waste Tracking service is not free — there is a £26 a year charge per organisation (legal entity). The service was available voluntarily from April 2026 before it became mandatory for receivers on 1 October 2026.
- Do I have to use software, or can I use the government service directly?
- You can enter receipts directly in the government Digital Waste Tracking service, or use software that submits them automatically through DEFRA's Receipt of Waste API. For a busy site the API route avoids re-keying every load into the portal.
- What information do I need to capture for each waste receipt?
- For each load you need the EWC code, quantity, the carrier's registration number, the disposal or recovery code, vehicle details, and — for hazardous waste — the consignment note code and hazardous properties. The service validates much of this, so your reference data must be correct. There is a £26 a year charge per organisation to use the service.
Related guides
This guide is general information from ComplyWaste, not legal advice. Always check the primary sources for your situation.