Digital waste tracking: check if you need to report the waste you receive
When permitted or licensed organisations must report controlled waste using the ‘Report receipt of waste’ service.
Who must use the ‘Report receipt of waste’ service
If you are licensed or permitted to receive controlled waste, you will need to enter details of every load you receive using the ‘Report receipt of waste’ service.
This applies to all permitted:
- operations, installations and mobile plants
- sites located on the same site where waste is produced
This is a legal requirement under The Digital Waste Tracking (England) Regulations 2026 and The Digital Waste Tracking (Wales) Regulations 2026.
Check if you have controlled waste
The ‘Report receipt of waste’ service is for controlled waste only. Most household, commercial or industrial waste is controlled waste.
Before you register, check the type of waste you receive. If you are unsure, check the Controlled Waste (England and Wales) Regulations 2012 for more information.
Who does not need to use the service
If you operate a household waste recycling centre (HWRC)
You do not have to use the ‘Report receipt of waste’ service if you:
- operate an HWRC in Wales
- receive household waste from residents at an HWRC in England
If you are digitally excluded
You are considered digitally excluded if:
- it is not practical to use digital tools to report your waste due to your age, disability or location
- your business is run entirely by practising members of a religious society (or order) whose beliefs are not compatible with using electronic communications or keeping electronic records
You are not considered digitally excluded if:
- you prefer paper records
- you are unfamiliar with software
- it would take extra time or cost to comply
You will need to follow a different process if you are digitally excluded. Check the section on submitting data if you are digitally excluded.
Reporting the waste you receive
Use the Report receipt of waste service to report the controlled waste you receive at your licenced or permitted site.
What data to submit
You can find more information on what you need to submit in Schedule 1 of The Digital Waste Tracking (England) Regulations 2026 and Schedule 1 of The Digital Waste Tracking (Wales) Regulations 2026, including:
- waste movement, carrier and receiver details
- waste classification codes
- recovery and disposal codes
- persistent organic pollutants (POPs) data
- hazardous waste data
You can also find the data requirements in the Receipt of waste template spreadsheet.
Waste classification codes
Read the classification guidance for more information on applying waste classification codes. They are also known as list of waste (LoW) codes and European Waste Catalogue (EWC) codes.
Recovery and disposal codes
Check Annex I of the Waste Framework Directive for the full list of disposal codes and Annex II of the Waste Framework Directive for the full list of recovery codes.
Reporting waste that contains persistent organic pollutants (POPs)
If the waste contains one or more of the substances listed in Annex IV of the POPs Regulation, you must enter the:
- substance name
- concentration value
If you are unable to provide any of this information, you must state why.
Reporting hazardous waste
You must check if your waste has one or more hazardous properties listed in Annex III of the Waste Framework Directive.
For each hazardous property, you must include the:
- applicable Hazardous Property (HP) codes
- chemical or biological components
- concentration value of the hazardous components (excluding hazardous components with physical properties)
If your waste contains a substance that exceeds the concentration limit listed in Appendix C, Chapter 16 of the Waste classification technical guidance, you must enter the hazard code as POP.
If you are unable to provide any of this information, you must state why.
When you need to submit your data
If you receive waste in England or Wales, you must use the service from 1 October 2026.
You must submit records within 2 working days (excluding weekends and bank holidays), starting on the day after you receive the waste.
For example, if you receive the waste at 9am on Monday, you must submit your receipt and receive a unique reference number by 11:59pm on Wednesday.
If there is an error with your submission
If you receive a notification by email or from your software about an error with your submission, you must correct it within the same 2 working day timeframe.
If you receive controlled waste by pipeline
If your waste is piped over more than 1 day, the 2-day timeframe begins the day after you receive the last load.
If the waste is piped continuously, the timeframe begins the day after the earliest of the following dates:
- the end date of the quarter in the waste transfer or consignment note
- the day the piping stops
Notes and returns you must submit outside the service
Until further notice, you must continue to submit the following notes and returns in addition to using the ‘Report receipt of waste’ service.
Waste transfer notes and hazardous waste consignment notes
The current paper-based method of tracking waste will initially continue to run alongside the new digital service. This means you must continue to complete waste transfer notes, Annex VII forms and hazardous waste consignment notes (where required).
If you receive a load of hazardous waste with multiple consignment notes, you must enter the waste covered by each consignment note as a separate entry into the service.
Waste returns and hazardous waste consignee returns
You must continue to submit waste returns in line with the conditions of your environmental permit.
You must also continue to submit hazardous waste consignee returns (charges will still apply).
Government and the environmental regulators will be developing transition plans for the move from data returns to the use of the service data.
Updating errors in your submitted data
You must correct any error as soon as you can and always within 1 month of discovering it. This applies to errors in the:
- data you have submitted
- waste information given to you
You will only be able to update an existing spreadsheet if you have been given a waste tracking reference for that waste movement.
Reporting receipts of waste during an outage
If you are unable to submit a receipt of waste due to an outage (for example, due to building damage or a network failure), you must:
- tell your regulator as soon as you can (unless you have been notified the outage is due to the service being unavailable)
- make and retain a written record of the receipt of waste data within 2 working days from the day after the load was received
- transfer the written record to the service within 7 working days, starting from the day after the outage is resolved
- give your regulator access to your written record as soon as you can if they request to see it
Submitting data if you are digitally excluded
If you qualify as digitally excluded, you must:
- hold a digitally excluded number that was assigned to you by your regulator
- make a written record of each load you receive within 2 working days from the day after the load was received – the record must contain all the required information
- include your digitally excluded number in every written record
- retain the written record for at least 3 years, starting on the date the record is made
- give your regulator access to your written records a soon as you can if they request to see them
If you are digitally excluded but do not hold a digitally excluded number, you must contact your regulator and apply for one.
Your regulator will issue you with a number and keep a record of your details on their database.
If you are no longer digitally excluded
You must write to your regulator and let them know as soon as you can if your circumstances have changed.
Once you have given notice, you can continue to make written records during a 28-day transition period. After 28 days, you must use the Report receipt of waste service.
You may be fined if you operate as a digitally excluded person and do not hold a digitally excluded number or if you fail to tell your regulator that you no longer qualify.
If you do not comply with the new regulations
You will be committing an offence if you do not comply with the rules. This includes rules on deadlines, outages, written records, correcting errors, digital exclusion and making accurate records using the service.
If you break any of these rules you could face either a:
- compliance notice
- enforcement cost recovery notice
- variable monetary penalty of an unlimited amount
- fixed monetary penalty of £1,000
- criminal prosecution and, if convicted, an unlimited fine
You could also face up to 2 years in prison if you knowingly make false or misleading statements or records to regulators.
Get more information on the Environment Agency enforcement and sanctions policy for England and the Natural Resources Wales enforcement and sanctions policy.
Submitting an objection
If you receive a notice of intention to serve a monetary penalty, you have 28 days to submit a written objection to your regulator.
Your regulator will consider any objections and may decide to issue a final monetary penalty notice, which may include modifications.
Appealing a civil sanction decision
You may appeal against a civil sanction decision once you have received a final monetary penalty notice, a compliance notice or an enforcement cost recovery notice.
You can appeal if you believe the regulator’s decision is:
- based on a factual error
- wrong in law
- unreasonable (for example, the amount of a variable penalty or the requirement in a compliance notice)
You must send your appeal to the first-tier tribunal within 2 months of the regulator’s decision.
If you appeal, the notice is suspended (excluding compliance notices) until your appeal is withdrawn or the tribunal makes a decision.
The tribunal may quash, confirm, vary or send the decision back to the regulator with instructions.
Get more information on appealing against a regulator in England and appealing a regulatory decision in Wales.
Public register of enforcement action
Your regulator will maintain a publicly available register of any convictions, civil sanctions and enforcement cost recovery notices.
Civil sanctions will only appear on the register once any appeal has been resolved or if the time limit for lodging an appeal has passed. Information relating to civil sanctions must be removed from the register within 4 years.
Details of convictions must be removed from the register once the relevant rehabilitation period has been completed.
Where to find out more
The Digital Waste Tracking (England) Regulations 2026
The Digital Waste Tracking (Wales) Regulations 2026
Get help
Contact the support team
Contact the support team if you have any questions about this guidance or if you are having problems using the service.
Telephone: 03000 203 781
Monday to Friday, 8am to 5pm (except public holidays)
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Contact a regulator
If you have a question about waste regulation, contact your regulator:
- in England, contact the Environment Agency
- in Northern Ireland, contact the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA)
- in Scotland, contact the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA)
- in Wales, contact Natural Resources Wales