Digital waste tracking for skip hire: what you need to do by 1 October

What starts on 1 October 2026

In England, the duty comes from the Digital Waste Tracking (England) Regulations 2026, in force from 1 October 2026. [source] In Wales, the Digital Waste Tracking (Wales) Regulations 2026 bring in the same duty on the same date. [source] Together they mean permitted or licensed receiving sites in England and Wales have to report every load digitally from that day.

Scotland follows on 1 January 2027. [source] Northern Ireland follows in January 2027, no exact day set. [source] If your firm only operates in England or Wales, 1 October is the date that matters. See the full deadline explainer for every nation.

The service itself has been open for receiving sites to use in public beta since spring 2026, so you can register and try it before the date it becomes compulsory. [source]

Does this apply to your firm

The duty falls on the operator of a permitted waste facility that receives controlled waste. That is the person or business named on the environmental permit. [source] If you operate under a waste exemption rather than a permit, this phase does not apply to you yet. Defra has said exemptions come into a later phase. [source]

Many skip hire firms fall into one of two groups, and it is worth working out which one you are in. If you have your own permitted transfer station or yard where skips are tipped and sorted, you are a receiving site, and the load arrives with you. That is the group this page is written for. If you only hire out skips and haul them on to someone else's permitted site, without a permit of your own, you are a waste carrier rather than a receiving site. Carrier reporting is a different date; see our Phase 2 page for what has been published about that.

• A record is needed even when waste moves between sites in the same company, and when it moves within one site between two separate permits. [source]
• Only waste sent and received in the UK is in scope. [source]

Common skip loads and their waste codes

The six digit waste code is one of the things you have to record for every load, and it comes from the List of Wastes. [source] A general builder's skip that mixes rubble, wood, plastic and packaging usually goes under 17 09 04, mixed construction and demolition wastes. A skip of just concrete, brick and tile rubble usually goes under 17 01 07. A household skip of general rubbish usually goes under 20 03 01, mixed municipal waste. A garden clearance skip usually goes under 20 02 01, biodegradable waste. These are the common cases, not a complete list; a driver still has to pick the code that actually matches what is in the skip, and a mixed load sometimes needs more than one code.

What you need to record, and by when

You must record the load and get a digital waste record number by the end of the second working day after the day the load arrived. [source] In practice, waste received at 9am on Monday has to be recorded before midnight on Wednesday. [source] Getting the number back is part of the duty, not an optional extra. It is how you check the record actually reached the system. [source]

Every load needs: who you are and your permit number, where the site is, when the load arrived, who brought it and their carrier registration, how it travelled and the vehicle registration, a description of the waste with its six digit waste code, weight, containers, whether it is hazardous, and the disposal or recovery code. This is a summary; the full list is in Schedule 1 of the regulations. [source] The regulations require a D or R code for each waste code on the load. [source] A D code means the waste is going to a disposal operation, such as landfill. An R code means it is going to a recovery operation, such as recycling. [source] Most general skip loads that get sorted at a transfer station end up under a recovery code, but the code you enter has to match what actually happens to that load, not what usually happens.

Weight can be a measured figure or an estimate; the Defra record accepts either. That said, your own permit or landfill tax duty may separately require you to weigh a load, so check those conditions on their own terms. [source] If you get something wrong, you have to correct it. [source]

The £26 Defra charge

Registering with Defra's digital waste tracking service costs £26 a year. It gives 12 months of rolling access. [source] Your firm registers and pays this directly to Defra. Tipslip does not charge it, collect it, or register on your behalf. [source] Each permit holding legal entity registers on its own; a group cannot register once for all its companies. [source] The charge applies once the service becomes mandatory. [source]

If a load is hazardous

Skip firms sometimes take loads that include hazardous material: contaminated soil, insulation, or old equipment. In the List of Wastes a hazardous entry is marked with an asterisk on the code, for example 17 05 03*. [source] If any part of a load is hazardous, treat the whole load with more care: check the code carefully against the List of Wastes, and remember the disposal or recovery code is required either way.

Your waste transfer notes still matter

Digital waste tracking does not replace your duty of care paperwork. The waste transfer note rules still apply and are a separate duty. [source] We cover what a note has to contain, who keeps it and for how long, in our waste transfer note guide.

What this means day to day

For the driver, this adds one job at the tip: picking the right waste code, noting the weight (weighed or estimated), and recording who delivered the load. It does not change how a skip is loaded, sorted or emptied. For the office, it adds one job: checking that each record went through and got a digital waste record number back, and following up on anything that comes back needing review. Neither job replaces the paperwork you already do; it sits alongside it.

Already past 1 October and not set up yet

If you are reading this after the date has passed, the answer is the same as before it: register with Defra, work out what your driver and office need to capture, and start recording new loads from the day you go live. What to do about loads already received before you were set up is a question for your own regulator, not something this page can answer for you.

How Tipslip fits in

Tipslip records the load on the driver's phone the moment it is tipped, with or without signal, and submits it to Defra automatically. The waste transfer note comes out as a PDF from the same entry and is emailed to the customer, so nobody writes it up twice in the office. Setup is one form: tell us your site, your drivers and your usual waste codes, and we load it for you.

See pricing for plans from £49 a month, or read the full deadline explainer for the dates by nation.