The Digital Waste Tracking unique reference number explained

Every receipt submitted to Digital Waste Tracking gets a unique reference number the moment it is accepted. Here is what that reference is, when it arrives, how it is used for compliance and corrections, and what happens to it when carriers join the system in October 2027.

What is the Digital Waste Tracking unique reference number?

The term appears in Regulation 3(4)(a) of the Digital Waste Tracking (England) Regulations 2026 (SI 2026/729) and the equivalent Wales Regulations (WSI 2026/105): “a unique identifying number assigned to a digital waste record.” In DEFRA's developer documentation and vendor software it is also referred to as a Waste Tracking ID, a waste movement ID or a waste tracking reference — all names for the same system-generated reference.

You do not choose this reference; the service generates it. It is distinct from two other identifiers in the system:

• →Your API code (also called your organisation or operator code) — a fixed, site-level identifier used to authenticate your submissions. One code per organisation; it does not change between submissions.
• →Your own reference — an optional field in each submission where you can record an internal number such as a weighbridge ticket number or a waste transfer note reference, to make reconciliation with your own records easier.

When do you receive the Waste Tracking ID?

This is a common source of confusion with the 2-working-day rule. The two working days is the deadline you have to make the submission — not a delay before the reference is issued. Once your submission is accepted, the Waste Tracking ID is in the response immediately. If DEFRA's service rejects the submission (for example, an unrecognised EWC code or an invalid carrier registration number), it returns an error and no reference is assigned; you must correct and resubmit within the 2-working-day window.

Receipts must be submitted within 2 working days of the waste arriving at your site — but the Waste Tracking ID is assigned in the same response as the successful submission, not on a delay. Capture it at that point and store it against the corresponding weighbridge or gate record.

What does the Waste Tracking ID look like?

Each ID is unique to a single received movement — one receipt, one reference. Because receipts in Digital Waste Tracking are mutable (you can correct and update them), the same reference number stays with the record through any amendments. There is no “version 2” reference; corrections update the original.

What is the Waste Tracking ID used for?

Do carriers and receivers share the same reference number?

The system is built for a two-sided model: from October 2027, when carriers, brokers and dealers come into scope, the design intention is for the shared reference to link the carrier's submission and the receiving site's receipt for the same waste movement. Regulators can then see both sides of a movement and compare them. Until then, the carrier's waste carrier registration number is submitted as a data field within the receiving site's receipt — but the carrier themselves do not submit a separate record or hold the reference.

During the transition, paper waste transfer notes (and hazardous consignment notes for hazardous waste) must still be completed alongside the digital receipt. The Waste Tracking ID does not yet replace the transfer note as proof of duty of care.

How should receiving sites manage the Waste Tracking ID?

Good record-keeping around the Waste Tracking ID makes compliance straightforward and corrections quick:

• →Capture it at submission — store the reference against your weighbridge ticket, gate record or transfer note immediately. If it is not captured in the first response and you need to retrieve it later, the government service lets you look up previously submitted records.
• →Use the ‘your own reference’ field to embed your internal ticket or note number in the DEFRA record at submission time, so both identifiers are in one place.
• →Correct errors promptly — amendments use the original Waste Tracking ID and should be made as soon as possible, within one month of discovering the error.
• →Keep the reference accessible — you may need it to respond to a regulator enquiry or to match records when carriers come into scope in October 2027.

This guide is general information about Digital Waste Tracking and does not constitute legal or regulatory advice. For your specific obligations, consult the primary sources below and, if in doubt, your environmental regulator.