Policy paper

Digital waste tracking service

Updated 10 July 2025

Introduction 

Waste crime and poor performing waste sites:

• damage the environment
• blight local communities
• undermine legitimate businesses
• cost the UK economy an estimated one billion pounds per year

The UK Government, alongside Scottish Government, Welsh Government and the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) in Northern Ireland, are committed to tackling this issue.

Waste handled illegally also threatens our aspirations for a circular economy; a future where waste is reduced through keeping our resources in use for longer. By tackling criminal behaviour, we will not only prevent harm but also ensure that resources are being properly recycled or recovered and fed back into the economy. 

To do this, we need to address the information gap that hinders the effective regulation and management of waste by introducing mandatory digital waste tracking. This will transform existing outdated systems for recording waste movements.

In February 2025, in response to industry feedback, we announced that the digital waste tracking service would be in place from April 2026. This update provides more detail on:

• the service that will be introduced
• who will need to comply with mandatory digital waste tracking requirements and when

New approach to delivery 

The waste industry involves a large number and complex array of operators. This includes approximately:

• 12,000 waste site operators
• 150,000 registered waste exemption holders
• 300,000 registered waste carriers, brokers and dealers

These work across the UK in a wide variety of sectors with varying levels of digital capability. 

To build a stable, effective and user-friendly service we need to build it incrementally. This starts with the creation of a firm foundation which delivers some of the intended benefits. Additional aspects can be added as we learn from testing the core elements of the service. This will allow us to refine and adjust our approach as we move towards a more complete end-to-end waste tracking service. 

Following assessment of the options and international best practice, the first element of our waste tracking service will focus on waste receiving sites inputting data about all waste they receive. This includes waste containing persistent organic pollutants (POPs). Following this phase, we are planning to expand the service to other waste operators.

What do we mean by waste receiving sites?

Those required to hold a permit or licence to receive waste will be mandated to record details of waste received on the digital waste tracking service from October 2026. 

We recognise that waste can also be received under other types of authorisations, such as registered exemptions. But the numbers of operators of these are much larger and more diverse in terms of scale and types of operation.

We will consider over the next few months whether there are any specific sectors or categories of operation within this group that it would be prudent to mandate use of the service alongside permit and licence holders. We will confirm by September 2025, if this is the case.

We will consider over the next few months whether there are any specific sectors or categories of operation within this group. It would be prudent to mandate use of the service alongside permit and licence holders

Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRCs) 

As previously announced Household Waste Recycling Centre operators will not need to record household waste received in the waste tracking service.  

We will engage with local authorities regarding the feasibility of recording commercial waste accepted at these sites during the initial phase.

Ways to submit data 

During user research in the previous phase of the project, users reported that manually creating records on a GOV.UK style service was time consuming and burdensome. This was largely due to the level of information required on a waste movement record (the information currently required on waste transfer notes and hazardous waste consignment notes). They also reported that prototypes designed to capture data uploaded from csv files were difficult to use. Feedback suggested a more prevalent use of some form of digital system to capture details of waste movements by waste sector operators than previously estimated.

From this feedback we now intend to primarily deliver a solution that integrates with users’ existing software by automatically capturing data through an application program interface (API). Where companies make use of commercial software, it will be important for us to have direct close engagement with these companies to understand and enable this API driven approach.

User testing has shown that those using waste tracking software strongly advocate it due to the positive impacts it has had on their business.  We will however also be exploring and testing an alternative way for people to digitally provide their information.

What are the benefits of this approach to delivering the service? 

Starting with a service for a smaller, better defined and identifiable group of users means we can:

• more effectively engage and more confidently understand their needs and requirements
• build an initial service that works for both businesses and regulators

We expect this group to be more likely to have the digital capability to adapt more readily but we will explore this further through user research.  

We also have accurate information about the numbers of operators working under permits and licences. This is in contrast to carriers, brokers, dealers or exemption holders, where people may have registered these but not be actively operating. We will therefore be able to accurately monitor information, enabling us to target communications and activity to ensure all licenced and permitted sites are using the service. 

Through the information provided by the receiving sites we will also be able to get a more accurate understanding of the numbers of waste movements. This will help to inform the development of the digital service to ensure it is able to effectively accommodate the volume of transactions.

How will this help tackle waste crime? 

Connecting fragmented systems and digitising record-keeping will ultimately make it:

• easier for waste producers and legitimate waste companies to comply with reporting requirements
• harder for rogue operators to compete in the industry and commit waste crime, from fly tipping to illegal waste sites to illegal waste exports

Delivering a service which captures information from waste receivers is the first step towards this. With access to individual waste load data, regulators at roadside checks can quickly verify if waste was delivered to a legitimate site, ensuring compliance. Through the digital records they will also have access to better information about the carriers who have delivered the waste. This will enable more effective audits of the waste chain if a problem is found with any waste on a receiving site. It will also help regulators proactively identify and take necessary action if:

• a site appears to be accepting greater volumes of waste than is authorised by their permit
• any potentially problematic waste types are being accepted by a site which could cause local environmental issues if not managed appropriately

Support for digitally excluded users

We are required by law to provide an alternative mechanism for those who meet the definition of a digitally excluded person.    

Starting with operators holding waste permits and licences, we believe the number of those unable to use electronic systems will be extremely low.   

We will however include alternative requirements in the secondary legislation.

Service charge fee

We will be doing further work to assess what this means for the service charge.   

Our intention is to spread costs over the total number of operators expected to be using the service once it has been fully delivered to ensure those in the first phase will not be paying more.  At this stage we do not anticipate that the service fee will be significantly different from what was previously announced.

Green list waste exports and imports

We are reviewing the requirements in parallel with the new EU digital system (DIWASS) requirements. Exporters and importers in Northern Ireland will be directly impacted by DIWASS, with potential broader effects on those operating in Great Britain.  

We will issue a further update on this in due course.  The effective monitoring of green list waste exports is crucial for identifying and stopping non-compliant hazardous waste exports.

Timelines 

Planned dates for the development of the digital service and accompanying legislation are as follows: 

• from autumn 2025 - IT service to be available to an invited group of users in increasing numbers (private beta phase)
• from spring 2026 - IT service to be available publicly for all permitted and licenced receiving site operators to use (public beta phase)
• by April 2026 - all nations to have laid secondary legislation to mandate the use of the service by receiving site operators from October 2026
• from October 2026 - service mandatory for receiving site operators
• from April 2027 - planned expansion of the service to other operators (details to be confirmed)

Next steps 

It is important that we engage with a fully representative user base. This enables us to gather the necessary insights and feedback to shape the design of the service, making it simple and easy to use.

We are planning to bring users closer to the design of the service through:

• working groups for commercial industry operators and local authorities
• a technical group to help develop and inform the API

Meetings will begin from July 2025.  

We will also be issuing updates and communications on a regular basis through the Circular Economy newsletter.   

Further information

You can find more information on this project: 

• get the latest news on Circular Economy reforms 
• register your interest in waste tracking service user groups 

Our previously announced Government response on the implementation of mandatory digital waste tracking has further details on:

• the scope of the digital waste tracking service
• what information will need to be recorded

Contact details 

For enquiries regarding mandatory digital waste tracking policy get in touch with us at wastetracking@defra.gov.uk