Guides
Digital Waste Tracking: what skip hire and waste carriers should be doing now
Digital Waste Tracking becomes mandatory for carriers from October 2027. This guide sticks to the practical side: getting the records you already keep into one place now, so the switch is a change rather than a rebuild.
What we can say for certain
Digital Waste Tracking replaces paper waste transfer notes with a digital record of each movement of waste. For carriers, it becomes mandatory from October 2027. If you run your own permitted transfer station or treatment site, the receiving-site phase applies from October 2026.
That is as far as this guide goes on the rules. Who is covered, when each part of the waste chain comes in, and exactly what has to be recorded are set out by government, and the detail can be updated. The source to check is the GOV.UK guidance on mandatory Digital Waste Tracking, and for your own obligations, the Environment Agency.
We build the records, not the legal advice. If something on GOV.UK changes, trust GOV.UK over any supplier, us included.
Most of the information already exists
A skip firm or waste carrier already collects nearly everything a movement record is likely to need. The trouble is where it lives:
- Transfer notes on paper, in the cab, a folder or a box in the office.
- EWC codes written on some notes and "mixed waste" on others.
- Carrier details for your own wagons and for any hauliers you subcontract to.
- Weights on weighbridge tickets, sometimes from somebody else's site.
- The customer and the site in a booking diary, a spreadsheet or the accounts package.
Five records describing the same load, kept in five places. Pulling those together after the event is slow at the best of times. Doing it for every movement, against a deadline, is the part to avoid.
Get it into one record per load, now
The sensible step today does not depend on the final detail of the rules. It is to make each load one record, written as the work happens: the customer, the site, the container, the waste described by its EWC code, the carrier, the weight, and where it went. The transfer note is attached to the load it came off, not filed separately.
Do that now and the move to Digital Waste Tracking becomes a change to how that record is sent, not a scramble to find information that was never captured. Anything that depends on how the official service accepts records should be built from what GOV.UK publishes, not guessed at.
Habits worth changing before 2027
The systems are the easier part. The habits take longer, which is the real reason to start early.
- Describing waste properly. An EWC code on every load, not "builders' rubbish". Drivers and office staff both need to get used to it.
- Recording at the time. The load written up when it is collected or tipped, not at the end of the week from memory.
- Weights tied to loads. Every weighbridge ticket matched to the movement it belongs to, so nobody hunts for it later.
- Subcontractors included. If other hauliers move waste for you, their details need to be as complete as your own.
A good test: pick a load from six months ago and see how long it takes to find the note, the code, the carrier and the weight. If the answer is "a few minutes", you are in good shape. If it involves a box file and a phone call, that is where to start.
What a yard system looks like when it is ready
On a well-set-up system, the board shows every container that is out and how long it has been there. Each collection carries its transfer note, its EWC code and its weight. The month end report comes off the loads themselves. When the record has to go somewhere new, the information is already sitting in the right shape.
Our skip hire page shows those screens from our own example system, with the firms in them invented. If you are coming from a spreadsheet, our guide to moving off spreadsheets without stopping work covers how to make the move calmly.
What this means for you
Read the GOV.UK guidance and confirm your own obligations with the Environment Agency. Then, whatever the detail turns out to say, get every load into one record now: note, code, carrier and weight together. That work is useful today for month end and for answering customers, and it means October 2027 is a change rather than a rebuild.
If you would like to talk through how your yard records loads now, get in touch. You can also look at our compliance and inspection records work.
Questions people ask
When does Digital Waste Tracking become mandatory for carriers?
From October 2027. Check the GOV.UK guidance on mandatory Digital Waste Tracking for the detail, and the Environment Agency for your own obligations, because dates and requirements can be updated.
Will a system make us compliant?
No system does that on its own. What it can do is hold every movement as one record with its EWC code, weight and carrier on it. The obligation stays yours, and the advice comes from the regulator.
Do we need new software before October 2027?
Not necessarily. If your current system already holds each load with its note, code, carrier and weight, you may only need it to send records the new way. If those details are spread across paper and spreadsheets, bringing them together is the useful first step.
Talk to us
Tell us how loads and transfer notes are recorded in your yard now. That is usually enough for us to say whether we can help.
Ring, 8am to 6pm Monday to Friday and Saturday mornings, or use the form below. Pick what you'd like to keep track of, add a line if you want to, and leave a name and a way to reach you.