Guide
Digital waste tracking: fines and penalties
Not complying with digital waste tracking is an offence. That covers the deadline, outages, written
records, correcting errors and making accurate records.
What GOV.UK says you could face
- a compliance notice
- an enforcement cost recovery notice
- a fixed monetary penalty of £1,000
- a variable monetary penalty of an unlimited amount
- prosecution and, if convicted, an unlimited fine
The civil penalties and notices are in regulation 19
and the fines on conviction in regulation 18
of the England regulations (SI 2026/729). Regulators keep a public register of convictions and civil sanctions.
How sites stay clear of them
- Every load in, reported within two working days of the day after it arrives - bank holidays don't count.
Due dates, worked out.
- A mistake Defra or your software flags: put it right within the same two working days. One you find yourself: within
one month. Correcting a record.
- If Defra's service is down, there are steps to follow and a written record to keep.
What to do when it's down.
Worked example
Thirty loads on a Monday: when each is due
A skip yard in England takes in 30 loads on a Monday. Each one is a separate record: one record per load,
never a day's loads added together. They can go to Defra together in one submission, but each keeps its own
arrival time, weight and reference.
The count starts the day after the load arrives, and the record is due by 23:59 on the second working day.
So all 30 are due by 23:59 on Wednesday. Weekends and bank holidays don't count:
- In on Monday: due by 23:59 on Wednesday.
- In on Friday: due by 23:59 on Tuesday.
- In on Saturday: due by 23:59 on Tuesday as well, if there is no bank holiday.
- In on Thursday 24 December 2026: due by 23:59 on Wednesday 30 December, because Christmas Day and the
Boxing Day substitute on Monday 28 December are bank holidays.
Wales uses the same England and Wales bank holidays. Friday's loads are the ones to watch, because the weekend
sits between the load and its deadline.
Worked example
A load found wrong a week later
On a Tuesday you notice that a load from the Monday before went to Defra with kilograms typed as tonnes.
Nobody flagged it. Because you found it yourself, it has to be corrected as soon as you can, and within one
month of finding it.
Correct the record Defra already hold, using the load's Defra ID. Don't key it again as a new load. Defra keep
the first record and don't remove duplicates, so that would leave two records of one lorry.
If Defra or your software had flagged the error to you instead, the deadline is shorter: the same two working
days. How to correct it.
When Defra are down
The outage steps, in order
An outage doesn't stop the clock. Regulation 6 sets out what to do:
- Tell the regulator (the Environment Agency, or Natural Resources Wales in Wales) as soon as reasonably
practicable, unless Defra have already told users the service is down.
- Write each load down within the usual two working days, with everything its record would hold. An
electronic record is fine if it is easy to find and retrieve.
- Enter it within 7 days, beginning the day after the outage is resolved. GOV.UK's page says 7 working
days, so work to the shorter.
A load held up because the organisation hasn't paid Defra's £26 a year, or hasn't fixed an error Defra flagged,
isn't an outage. GOV.UK say the first £26 is due by 31 January 2027.
Already behind?
Late loads still go in
A late load is still reported. Send it as soon as you can, with the date and time it really arrived. A late
record is better than none.
Never change the arrival date to make a load look on time. The record has to be accurate, and making accurate
records is part of the duty, the same as the deadline.
Keying each load at the gate, while the ticket or note is in your hand, keeps it well inside its two days.
Leaving a week's loads to type up on Friday puts Monday's past their deadline.
Questions people ask
What happens in Wales?
Wales has its own regulations (WSI 2026/105) with the same two working days, and a £1,000 fixed penalty.
What about Scotland?
Scotland's duty starts on 1 January 2027 (SSI 2026/145). The penalties there are fines: up to the statutory maximum on summary conviction, or a fine on indictment.
What if Defra's service is down when a load is due?
Tell the Environment Agency unless Defra already said the service was down, keep a written record of each load within the two working days, and enter the loads within 7 days, starting the day after the service comes back.
I spotted a mistake on a load I already sent. Am I in trouble?
Not if you put it right in time. A mistake you find yourself has to be corrected within one month; one Defra or your software flags, within the same two working days.
Source: GOV.UK, if you do not comply with the new regulations.
For your own site's position, Defra's helpline is 03000 203 781 (Monday to Friday, 8am to 5pm).
Byrne Waste Tracking records each load at the gate, checks it against Defra's rules before it saves and sends it to
Defra by itself once your Defra account is linked. From £89 a site a month, no contract.
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