Part A · The one job before your loads reach Defra

For

Permit holders using Byrne Waste Tracking

Takes

One sitting

Written by

WILF BYRNE

Checked

14 September 2026

Get your Defra API code, and your loads go to Defra by themselves.

Register your organisation with Defra once, copy the code they give you, and paste it into the app. From then on every load you save is sent to Defra for you.

Part B · Before you start

What you need before you start

• Your organisation's own sign-in: its Government Gateway or GOV.UK One Login account. Never a personal one. Defra say so, and a personal Defra account is stopped with “You cannot continue on this service”.
• Your Companies House number if you're a limited company. Sole traders and partnerships register as a business too.
• One sitting. An unfinished Defra account is deleted after 3 days, and the service signs you out after 4 hours.
• If someone at your organisation already has a Defra account, ask them to add you rather than making a new one.

Part C · The steps

Tick them off as you go

1. 01Open gov.uk/guidance/report-receipt-of-waste and press Start now.
2. 02“Are you registering as a local authority?” Choose No, then Continue.Councils choose Yes.
3. 03“How do you want to sign in?” Choose GOV.UK One Login or Government Gateway and sign in with your organisation's details, or create them.
4. 04First time only: set up the Defra account as a business or organisation, with your company number if you have one and your contact details.
5. 05If your sign-in covers more than one organisation: “Who do you want to represent?” Pick the company, then Continue.
6. 06On your account page, choose Report receipt of waste, then Manage my API code, then Continue.
7. 07On “Your API code”, press Create additional code. Press Change next to its name, call it Byrne Waste Tracking, and press Save and continue.Recommended: Defra advise giving each software provider its own code.
8. 08Press Copy next to that code.It's 36 characters with dashes, in the pattern xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx.
9. 09In Byrne Waste Tracking: Sites, then Send loads to Defra automatically. Paste it into Defra API code and press Save code.No account yet? Start free, add your site, then come back to this step. Already have one but forgotten the password? There's a Forgotten your password link on the sign-in page. Stuck on this step? Email me and I'll tell you exactly which box it goes in.
   Two or more companies? Pick the company under “Which company?” first.
10. 10When Defra ask (the first charge is due by 31 January 2027): on your Defra account choose Service charge and pay the £26 by card. It's per organisation, not per site.

Part D · Good to know

Good to know about your API code

• One code covers every site your organisation runs. A second company needs its own registration, its own code and its own £26.
• Keep the code private. Only give it to your software provider. You can switch a code off at any time with Disable.
• Your consultant can't register or pay for you. The permit holder does it. Once you have the code, you can send it to your consultant or to me and it goes in for you.
• Once the code is in, each load goes to Defra about 20 minutes after it's saved, and “sent to Defra” appears next to it.
• Digitally excluded? If your age, disability or location makes going digital impractical, you apply to your regulator for a digitally excluded number instead. In England that's the Environment Agency on 03708 506 506.

Part E · Related

Related guides

• Free permit check: does digital waste tracking apply to your site?
• What permitted sites must do from 1 October 2026, with a source for every point.
• Is this my Defra API code? The numbers people send instead, and how to tell.
• Every guide: carrier numbers, R and D codes, EWC codes, bank holidays and corrections.
• Report receipt of waste, Defra's own guidance on GOV.UK.
• Byrne Waste Tracking, the app this guide connects to Defra.