Digital waste tracking
Do I need to report waste to DEFRA?
Three questions, and an answer that says where it comes from — including whether the date is law yet or only an announcement. Nothing is stored and we do not ask for your email.
It depends on one thing: whether the site is permitted or exempt.
Phase 1 applies to sites that hold an environmental permit or waste management licence. Sites operating under a registered waste exemption are not in this phase.
- A permit has a permit number and an annual subsistence charge from the regulator; an exemption is registered against a code such as T or S and is usually free.
- Your regulator’s public register will tell you which you hold, and the answer is on the paperwork you renew.
- Once you know, come back and answer again — the two answers are genuinely different.
What continues either way
- Waste transfer notes, and hazardous waste consignment notes where they apply, continue exactly as now.
- Quarterly consignee returns continue for sites that file them.
- Digital waste tracking is recorded alongside these, not instead of them.
You answered: Wales · We receive waste at a site we operate · I am not sure which we hold. Start again
The dates, and what each one rests on
| Where | Receiving sites must report from | Is it law? |
|---|---|---|
| England | 1 October 2026 | Made |
| Wales | 1 October 2026 | Made |
| Scotland | 1 January 2027 | Made |
| Northern Ireland | 1 January 2027 | Announced, not yet made |
Northern Ireland moved once already, from October 2026. A good deal of what is written about digital waste tracking still repeats the older grouping, which is why this page separates what has been made from what has been said.
Who is not in this phase
- Waste producers. No phase, made or published, places a tracking duty on the business whose waste it is. Your duty of care and your transfer notes continue.
- Carriers, brokers and dealers. DEFRA has published October 2027 for waste collectors, but no legislation has been made for it, so treat the date as a plan rather than a deadline.
- Sites operating under a registered waste exemption. Exemptions are not in phase 1, which covers permitted sites; they come in with phase 2, for which no date has been legislated.
If it does apply to you
Two working days from the day after a load arrives is not long, and the recording duty is per load, not per day. Our post on the 1 October duty walks through who it binds and cites each figure, and the receiving-sites page sets out what DutyOS does with the load once you have logged it.
This page is a summary of published rules, not legal advice. Where an answer here matters to a decision, check it against your regulator and the instrument itself — every date above is traceable to one.