Waste Carrier Compliance Checklist 2026

October 2026 brings DEFRA’s digital waste tracking mandate. But that’s just one thing on the list. There’s a lot more that waste carriers need to have in place, and most of it predates the digital mandate by decades.

This is the full picture. Every item below is a legal requirement.

Carrier registration

You can’t legally carry controlled waste without being registered with the Environment Agency. There are two tiers.

Upper-tier is for businesses that carry other people’s waste commercially. Skip hire, waste collection, haulage. Costs £154, lasts three years. This is what most operators need.

Lower-tier is for businesses carrying only their own waste. A builder taking rubble from their own job to the tip. Free, doesn’t expire.

Check yours on the EA’s public register. If you’re within three months of expiry, renew it. Don’t wait.

Waste transfer notes

Every single transfer of controlled waste needs a WTN. Not one per day, not one per customer. One per transfer. Section 34, Environmental Protection Act 1990.

The note must have:

• Both parties’ full details (name, address, contact, carrier licence number)
• The receiving site’s environmental permit or licence number
• A description of the waste with the correct EWC code
• Quantity and container type
• Signatures from both sides
• Date of transfer

You keep these for two years. Three for hazardous waste. An EA inspector can ask for any note within that window.

If you’re not sure all your notes cover every field, pull out a few and check. Gaps in the paperwork look the same to an inspector whether they’re accidental or deliberate.

EWC codes

Every WTN needs the right 6-digit European Waste Catalogue code for the waste being moved. There are hundreds of codes and nobody has them memorised.

The ones waste carriers use most:

You can also look up any code at wtnapp.co.uk/tools/ewc-lookup. Type the waste type in plain English and it finds the code.

Using the wrong code or leaving it blank is a compliance failure. It’s also the thing EA inspectors catch most often.

Receiving site permits

Before you deliver anywhere, get the site’s environmental permit, waste management licence, or registered exemption reference. Write it on the WTN.

If the site turns out to be unlicensed and you didn’t check, that’s your problem. Ignorance is not a defence under duty of care. A legitimate site will hand over their reference without hesitation. If they won’t, don’t deliver.

Vehicles and skips

If you put skips on public roads, they need proper lighting and marking under highway regulations. Your vehicles need valid MOTs and road tax. If you’re using weighing equipment for WTN quantities, it should be calibrated.

Local councils and the EA both enforce this. A skip placed without a licence can get you a fixed penalty notice, and it goes on your compliance record.

Every driver should be able to produce carrier licence details at the kerbside. The driver compliance card generator makes a free printable A6 card with licence, vehicle, and driver details for the cab.

DEFRA digital waste tracking

From October 2026, receiving sites must log all incoming waste transfers in DEFRA’s central digital system. Carriers delivering to those sites need to submit data electronically. Paper won’t cut it.

What that means in practice: you need a DEFRA account created before the deadline, a digital system for creating WTNs that can feed into the DEFRA API, and drivers who know how to use it before October, not after.

The operators who will have a bad October 2026 are the ones who leave all of this until September. Registration queues, app learning curves, and driver pushback are much easier to deal with when you’re not under deadline pressure.

Hazardous waste

Different rules. Hazardous waste needs consignment notes, not just WTNs. Those must be kept for three years. Some hazardous movements need pre-notification to the EA. Special handling has to be recorded on the note.

Hazardous EWC codes end in an asterisk. Classifying hazardous waste as non-hazardous is a serious offence, not an admin error.

The checklist

WTN App handles the waste transfer note part of this list. Compliant digital notes from your phone. EWC code search built in. DEFRA-ready records prepared for future submission. Try it free. 20 notes included, no card required.