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Defra DWTS · Mandate 1 October 2026

Defra DWTS software for UK waste-receiving sites.

Yardnote is the simple compliance platform for permitted scrap yards, ATFs and transfer stations. Get your site submitting receipts to Defra in one working week — before the 1 October 2026 deadline.

Book a 15-minute demo See how it works
Built around Defra’s official DWTS API
YARDNOTE · HORNCHURCH YARD
Thu 24 May · 09:47
Today
42
receipts
To Defra
42 / 42
all submitted
Weight
12.4
tonnes
Latest receipts
Live
09:42
DK67 RVN
1.84 t
Sent
09:31
MJ19 PXA
3.21 t
Sent
09:18
GN72 WHB
0.96 t
Sent
09:06
AY68 ZFR
2.42 t
Queued
An excavator grab moves baled scrap metal in a permitted UK recycling yard
Compliance & assurance — Yardnote is built for the standards UK waste operators are inspected against.
Defra DWTS
Official API
UK GDPR
Compliant by design
Built in the UK
Hornchurch, Essex
UK-hosted
AWS London
The mandate

From 1 October 2026, every load received at a permitted UK site must be filed to Defra digitally.

The Defra Digital Waste Tracking Service sits alongside your existing transfer notes: the receiving site must also report every load it takes in to Defra. The obligation falls on the receiving site — scrap yard, ATF or transfer station — across England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

3 weeks remaining

Until permitted waste sites must be submitting receipts to Defra.

£5,000 per failure

Fixed penalty for missed submissions, plus enforcement risk.

~9,000 sites in scope

Permit-holding waste receivers in England, Wales and NI.

Product

Everything your weighbridge needs to comply.

A single platform that submits to Defra, prints receipts for the driver, works without a connection, and keeps you ready for an EA inspection. Nothing else to buy.

Direct Defra DWTS submission

Receipts post to Defra’s official API and the confirmation reference returns to the screen. No spreadsheets, no batch jobs.

Works offline at the weighbridge

Full offline queue for portacabin 4G. Receipts capture locally and re-sync automatically when the connection returns.

EWC and HP code library

A maintained library of European Waste Catalogue codes with hazardous classifications. Suggested from the description; operator confirms.

Industrial tablet supplied

We supply a hardened Android tablet pre-configured for your site. It pairs with the receipt printer already on your bench.

Audit-ready PDF reports

Inspection-mode export bundles your receipts for any date range into a PDF formatted for the Environment Agency.

UK-based support

Telephone and email support in office hours, answered by people who understand permitted-waste operations.

A wheeled loader and articulated lorry inside a UK waste transfer station
Built for the industry

Hazardous and non-hazardous. Weighbridge or estimate. Every load. Every site.

Solutions

Built for permitted UK waste-receiving sites.

Three site types are in scope from October 2026. Yardnote covers all three. Multi-site groups are supported under a single account.

S2 permits

Scrap metal recyclers

Single- and multi-site BMRA-member yards processing ferrous, non-ferrous and end-of-life vehicles.

See solution
S5 permits

Authorised Treatment Facilities

ATFs depolluting and processing end-of-life vehicles under the ELV Regulations and EA permit conditions.

See solution
T-series

Transfer stations

Mixed-waste transfer stations receiving commercial waste, demolition material and household trade loads.

See solution
How it works

Live on your site in seven days.

Other DWTS rollouts take three to six months and £8k–£20k upfront. Ours runs Monday to Sunday.

01
Day 01

Site survey

30-minute remote call to map your weighbridge, customers, vehicles and EWC codes.

02
Day 02

Provisioning

We load your site, vehicles and customers into Yardnote. Nothing for you to do.

03
Day 03

Tablet on the bench

Industrial tablet arrives at your site, paired with your existing receipt printer.

04
Day 04

Operator training

90 minutes on site with your weighbridge operator. They issue receipts themselves.

05
Day 05

First Defra submission

First receipt files to Defra. Confirmation reference returns to the screen.

06
Day 06

Paper retired

Carbon-copy duplicate notes out of circulation. The desk tray is empty for the first time.

07
Day 07

Compliance report

Export a full week as the inspector-ready PDF. You hold the file.

→
After

Day 8 onwards

Run the platform. UK office-hours support on tap. Updates included.

FAQ

What every operator asks first.

Can’t see your question? Email us at [email protected] — we aim to reply within one business day.

Won’t the free Defra spreadsheet do?
Fine for fifty receipts a month. At two-hundred-plus a month, it eats six to eight hours of admin a week. Defra has confirmed the spreadsheet route will be withdrawn by October 2027 at the latest.
Access Weighsoft has offered DWTS as an add-on.
Good — if you already use them. If you’re still on paper, getting Access Weighsoft live takes three to six months and £8k–£20k upfront. Our target is to be operational in two weeks from kick-off.
What if Yardnote goes away?
Built on Defra’s official API. Records are filed against your organisation in Defra’s system, where they remain available to you and the Environment Agency, independent of any one supplier.
Our weighbridge doesn’t connect to anything.
It doesn’t need to. Operators key the weight in once. Auto-capture for the common indicators (Avery, Weightron) is on the roadmap for v1.1.
We’re going to wait and see.
The mandate is laid (SI 2026/105 for Wales, English regulations finalised in Defra’s February 2026 policy paper). The 1 October 2026 date is confirmed. Every comparable operator will be calling suppliers in September. Earlier is cheaper.
Guides

Plain-English guides to digital waste tracking.

What the mandate asks of a receiving site, how EWC codes work, and what changes for transfer notes. Written for operators, not consultants.

All guides
Waste transfer notes & consignment notes

Do You Still Need Paper Waste Transfer Notes Under Digital Waste Tracking? (Answered)

The short answer is no, digital waste tracking does not replace your paper transfer notes in Phase 1. GOV.UK is clear the paper runs alongside the new service. Here is what you still complete, and what changes.

7 min read · 8 September 2026
DWTS mandate & deadlines

The DWTS Readiness Checklist for Permitted Waste Sites

England and Wales go live on 1 October 2026. Here is the plain, step-by-step readiness checklist to get your permitted waste site ready for Digital Waste Tracking - without the sales pitch.

8 min read · 4 September 2026
EWC codes

What Is an EWC Code? A Guide for UK Waste Site Operators

EWC codes decide whether a load is hazardous - and the wrong one can cost you over £120 a tonne. Here is what the six-digit List of Waste code means and how to get it right.

8 min read · 2 September 2026
Ready when you are

Get compliant before 1 October 2026.

Book a 15-minute demo. We’ll show you a receipt being filed to Defra in real time, on a working installation. No slides.

Book a 15-min demo