Digital waste tracking
Is a provider on the GOV.UK list DEFRA-approved?
Last checked 19 October 2026
Not in the sense the phrase suggests. Being on the list means one thing, and it is a real thing: the provider has technically integrated with DEFRA’s Digital Waste Tracking API. That is how DEFRA’s own terms of service for software providers put it, last updated on 9 October 2026. DEFRA does not endorse, recommend or rank any provider on the list, and says so on the page itself.
The same terms say what the list is not. Being on it is not a statement by DEFRA that a provider’s software complies with the regulations, has passed the production approval tests, or has been granted an exemption, and no provider may present it as one. DEFRA’s issue of production credentials is not testing, marking, certification, endorsement or approval of the software either.
So when a vendor says it is “DEFRA-approved”, that is their wording rather than a status DEFRA has conferred on them. It is worth knowing which of the two you are being sold.
What the tests actually establish
The production approval tests are a published set of 14 scenarios that a provider’s software has to send correctly. Under DEFRA’s terms, each provider runs them against its own software before it asks for live credentials and judges the results itself. The results are the provider’s own self-assessment.
Two qualifications are worth carrying with you. First, the terms require every provider to tell its customers its results clearly, including any scenario its software does not pass or support. No exemption from a failed scenario is available from DEFRA, so ask the provider for its results and read them. Second, the tests say nothing about whether the rest of the product is finished, supported, or suitable for your site.
“Approved software” is a defined term, and it is narrower
The regulations that create the duty use approved software as a defined term: a digital waste record means a record made using it. That is a specific legal concept, and it is not obviously the same thing as appearing on a published list of providers. The guidance does not join the two up explicitly.
DEFRA has answered, and here is what they said. On 8 September 2026 we put exactly this question to DEFRA’s digital waste tracking team in writing: does inclusion on the provider list make a product approved software within the meaning of the regulations? Their reply, dated 10 September 2026, pointed us to the GOV.UK list and its own disclaimer that operators must make sure the software meets their needs, and then said this:
“This is also part of the terms for software providers which you would have agreed as part of obtaining your credentials. These include a clear statement that you cannot advertise your software as ‘Defra accredited’, ‘Defra endorsed’, ‘Defra certified’, ‘Defra approved’ or similar. A simple factual statement and referencing the published list of compatible software, as you have done is in line with this.”
So the position is now clear, and it is contractual: no provider on the list may describe itself as DEFRA approved, endorsed, certified or accredited. That is a term every provider agreed to when its credentials were issued, and it applies to us exactly as it applies to everyone else. DEFRA did not rule on the narrower legal point, whether being listed is “approved software” within the meaning of regulation 3(3), and we are not going to pretend they did. Their terms of service, last updated on 9 October 2026, now add that production credentials are not approval of a provider’s software, but they do not mention regulation 3(3) either.
We describe DutyOS as listed on GOV.UK’s Report receipt of waste software provider list and integrated with DEFRA’s Digital Waste Tracking API. Our test results are stated separately, as our own.
We ran all 14 of DEFRA’s production approval test scenarios ourselves. All 14 gave the expected result (our own results, last run 31 October 2026), with no exemptions claimed. We would still rather explain the distinction than borrow a word that is not ours.
What this means when you are choosing
- Use the list as a filter, not a verdict. It tells you a product is connected. It tells you nothing about whether it fits your site.
- Ask for the provider’s test results directly and get them in writing, particularly if you handle hazardous waste. They are the provider’s own self-assessment, and the terms require it to share them.
- Discount the word “approved” in marketing on all sides. DEFRA’s terms forbid every listed provider from using it, ourselves included.
The list: GOV.UK, Report receipt of waste: choose a software provider. DutyOS Ltd is one of them and is not affiliated with DEFRA. What the list means: DEFRA, Digital Waste Tracking API terms of service, last updated 9 October 2026.