Guides · Compliance
What is digital waste tracking and does it apply to my London business?
Digital waste tracking is a government service that records waste movements electronically. In England it becomes mandatory for waste receiving sites in October 2026 and for waste carriers in October 2027. If your London business produces waste and hands it to a collector, digital waste tracking places no registration duty on you at all.
Ask us about your waste paperworkWhat is digital waste tracking?
Digital waste tracking is a service run by Defra and the Environment Agency that replaces the paper trail behind waste movements with electronic records. Instead of a note travelling with the load, the movement is recorded on a central service that the regulator can see.
Digital waste tracking definition
Digital waste tracking is the mandatory electronic recording of waste movements in the United Kingdom, covering who produced the waste, who moved it, what it was, how much there was and where it ended up. It is being introduced in phases, and the duty falls on the sites that receive waste and the businesses that carry it, not on every business that produces it.
What does DWT stand for in waste management?
DWT stands for digital waste tracking. You will also see it written as the digital waste tracking service, which is the name of the government system itself rather than the wider policy.
Does digital waste tracking apply to my business?
For most London businesses the answer is no, and this is the part that is most often reported wrongly. Digital waste tracking is being introduced for two groups: the permitted sites that receive waste, and the registered carriers, brokers and dealers that move it. A business that produces waste and hands it to a collector is in neither group.
Does digital waste tracking apply if my business only produces waste?
No. If you run a cafe, a shop, a salon, a restaurant or an office in London and you hand your waste to a licensed collector, digital waste tracking places no registration duty on you and no charge. Your obligations are the ones you already have under the Environmental Protection Act 1990: hand waste to an authorised person, describe it accurately, and be able to show where it went.
Does digital waste tracking apply to waste carriers in London?
Yes. A registered waste carrier moving commercial waste around London falls into the second phase and will have to record movements on the service. Capital Recycle is registered as an upper tier carrier under CBDU466346, which you can check on the Environment Agency public register, so this applies to us directly rather than in theory.
That distinction matters commercially as well as legally. A great deal of what is published about digital waste tracking is written for an audience of waste operators and then sold to ordinary businesses as though the duty were theirs.
A separate duty that already applies to most English businesses: what the new recycling rules mean for your business.
When does digital waste tracking become mandatory in England?
There are two dates in England and they belong to two different groups. Reading the earlier one as your own deadline is the most common mistake being made about digital waste tracking right now.
Is digital waste tracking mandatory from October 2026?
It is mandatory from October 2026 for waste receiving sites in England and Wales, meaning the permitted and licensed sites that take waste in. A public beta has been open to them since 28 April 2026. October 2026 is not a deadline for businesses that produce waste, and it is not the deadline for collectors either.
When does digital waste tracking become mandatory for waste carriers?
October 2027. Carriers, brokers and dealers get an invited private beta from autumn 2026 and a public beta from spring 2027, with mandatory use from October 2027. Until that date carriers can continue to issue paper waste transfer notes.
Digital waste tracking dates outside England
Wales follows the same October 2026 date for receiving sites. Scotland and Northern Ireland come later, in January 2027. If your sites are all in London this makes no practical difference, but it is worth knowing if you have premises elsewhere, because some published summaries have merged the two and given Northern Ireland the earlier date.
Do I still need a waste transfer note under digital waste tracking?
Yes. Nothing about your waste transfer notes changes in October 2026, because that date belongs to receiving sites. Carriers can issue paper transfer notes until October 2027, so a London business collecting a transfer note today, and throughout the next year, is doing the right thing.
Capital Recycle issues a waste transfer note for every collection, and holds an annual note on file for recurring accounts, which is the arrangement most bag and bin customers are already on.
What happens to my paper waste records under digital waste tracking?
Keep them. The two year retention period is unchanged, so paper notes issued before the switch stay valid and still have to be produced if a client audit, a landlord or the regulator asks. When carriers move to digital records in October 2027 the medium changes and the retention duty does not.
Whether the transfer note continues to exist as a legal instrument alongside digital records is a question for the regulations when they are made. It does not change what a London business has to do in the meantime, and anyone telling you transfer notes have already been abolished is ahead of the law.
What a transfer note must carry, and how long to keep it, is covered in full in what is a waste transfer note and do I need one?
How much does the digital waste tracking service cost?
Registering for the digital waste tracking service carries an upfront annual charge of £26, which grants twelve months of rolling access. It applies to any legal entity that creates or edits records on the service, and it begins once the service becomes mandatory for that group. If you are neither a receiving site nor a carrier there is nothing to register for and nothing to pay.
Will my waste collector handle digital waste tracking for me?
A collector records the movements it carries out, so for the waste you hand over, yes. Capital Recycle already issues the transfer note for every London collection and runs an annual waste transfer note service at £65 + VAT a year that produces the record, retains it, and produces it when someone asks for it.
That service describes work rather than paper. From October 2027 the medium changes and the work does not, so if you would rather not deal with a government reporting service yourself, the arrangement carries on exactly as it is.
See commercial waste collectionWho carries which duty is worth being clear about before you sign anything. Full detail: do I legally need a commercial waste contract?
Digital waste tracking facts, and the claims to be careful with
Digital waste tracking has been announced, delayed and rescheduled several times since 2022, and a lot of published guidance was written against dates that have since moved. These are the claims we see most often from London businesses who have read something and want to know if they are in trouble.
Was digital waste tracking mandatory from April 2025?
No. Some guidance still online states that digital waste tracking became mandatory in April 2025 and that every business handling waste must register. That was never the position. An April 2026 start was proposed and then withdrawn, and the current dates are October 2026 for receiving sites in England and Wales and October 2027 for carriers.
Does digital waste tracking replace waste transfer notes?
Not yet, and not on any date that has passed. Carriers may issue paper transfer notes until October 2027. Whether digital records eventually replace the transfer note outright or sit alongside it is a matter for the regulations, and it is not something a waste company can tell you with certainty today. Treat anyone who states it flatly with some caution.
Where should a London business check digital waste tracking for itself?
The Environment Agency and Defra policy paper on GOV.UK is the source, and it carries the date it was last updated. The version behind this page was last updated on 5 August 2026 and was read directly on 29 August 2026. It has been revised repeatedly through 2026, so any guidance that does not show a recent update date is not a safe guide, including this one. We re-read it before changing anything here.
Not sure where digital waste tracking leaves your business?
Tell us the premises, the postcode and what you are producing, and we will tell you plainly whether any of this lands on you. Call 0207 101 4003 or use the contact form.
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