If you carry waste in the UK, even your own, you probably need a waste carrier licence. Officially it’s called a waste carrier, broker and dealer registration, but everyone calls it a waste carrier licence. Here’s how to get one and what happens if you don’t.
Do you need a waste carrier licence?
If you transport controlled waste in England or Wales as part of your business, you need to register with the Environment Agency. That applies whether you’re a skip hire company with 20 trucks or a builder taking rubble to the tip in your van.
The only exceptions are very narrow:
- Charities transporting waste they’ve produced themselves
- Voluntary organisations carrying waste as part of their charitable purpose
- People carrying animal by-products (covered by separate regulations)
If waste goes in your vehicle and you drive it somewhere, you almost certainly need to be registered.
Upper tier vs lower tier
There are two tiers of registration. The one you need depends on what you carry and how often.
Lower tier (free)
Lower tier registration is for businesses that carry only their own waste, or carry waste that isn’t their main business activity. A builder who takes their own site waste to the tip, for example. It’s free to register and doesn’t expire.
Licence numbers start with CBDL.
Upper tier (paid)
Upper tier registration is for businesses that carry other people’s waste as a regular activity. Skip hire companies, waste collection services, clearance firms, commercial carriers. If a customer is paying you to take waste away, this is you.
It costs £154 to register and £105 to renew every 3 years. Licence numbers start with CBDU.
Not sure which one you need? If in doubt, go upper tier. It covers everything lower tier does plus more. Check the format of an existing licence number with our free tool.
How to apply
You can register online through the Environment Agency’s waste carrier registration service. The process takes about 10 minutes.
What you’ll need:
- Your company name and registered address
- A contact name and email address
- Your Companies House number (if you’re a limited company)
- A credit or debit card (upper tier only, £154)
Once approved, you’ll get a registration number (starting with CBDU or CBDL) and a certificate. Keep this somewhere accessible because you’ll need to show it to customers, receiving sites, and EA inspectors.
Renewal
Lower tier registrations don’t expire. Register once and you’re done.
Upper tier registrations last 3 years. The EA will send a reminder before it expires, but don’t rely on that. Put a reminder in your calendar. Operating with an expired registration is the same as operating without one: a criminal offence.
Renewal costs £105 and can be done online through the same service.
What happens if you don’t have one
Carrying controlled waste without a valid registration is a criminal offence under the Environmental Protection Act 1990.
- Fines of up to £5,000 on summary conviction
- Unlimited fines on conviction on indictment
- Up to 5 years in prison for repeat or serious offences
- Vehicle seizure: the EA can seize and dispose of your vehicle
The EA runs regular checks and roadside stops. They also inspect waste receiving sites and check every carrier licence number on incoming loads. If your number doesn’t check out, the site can refuse your waste and report you.
Recording your licence number
Your waste carrier licence number must appear on every waste transfer note. Under the current system, that means writing it by hand on every carbon copy. Under DEFRA’s digital waste tracking system (mandatory from October 2026), it’ll be validated automatically.
With WTN App, your licence number is stored once and fills in on every note. No more writing it out, no more typos, no more drivers forgetting the number.
Get registered, keep your licence current, and make sure the number is on every note. That covers you. And if you want to check whether an existing number looks right, use our free licence checker.