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.
No. Producing waste does not put you on the tracking service.
No phase of digital waste tracking — the phase in law, or the one DEFRA has published for 2027 — places a duty on the business that produced the waste.
- The duty to record a load sits with the permitted site that receives it, and later with the businesses that collect and carry it.
- Your duty of care is unchanged: you must still describe the waste correctly, check that whoever takes it is registered to, and keep your transfer notes.
- You do not need an account on the tracking service, and nothing about your waste appears on it under your name.
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: Scotland · We produce waste and someone else takes it away. 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.