Loads sent to Defra

Real numbers from the system that sends each load to Defra, counted on 5 November 2026. The numbers are counted by a script, never typed in.

Loads sent to Defra: 1,039Each one has a Waste Tracking ID from Defra. Since 2 October 2026.
Accepted first time: 99.4%1,033 of 1,039 went to Defra on the first try.
Saved to Defra reference: 21 minThe middle time from a load being saved to Defra's reference coming back.
Sites filing: 8Sites with at least one load at Defra. No names: that's their business.

Counted: loads at companies whose Defra account is linked to the live service, that Defra gave a Waste Tracking ID. Demo and practice loads on Defra's test service are left out. "First time" is strict: a load that needed a second try for any reason, including Defra's service being slow, isn't counted. Loads wait about 20 minutes after saving on purpose, so a typo spotted at the gate can be put right before it goes.

Changelog

What changed in the app and on this site in the last 30 days, newest first. App changes marked "coming in the next update" are finished but not on the live app yet.

4 NovThe permit box tidies a permit number however it's typed.
4 NovA load saved after Defra's deadline says so once when you save it. It never stops you saving.
4 NovThe demo shows a regular load as one tap, then the weight and the ticket.
2 NovThe spreadsheet import picks up carrier numbers and R or D codes from your own file.
2 NovBringing in old loads from a spreadsheet asks whether they have already gone to Defra, so none goes twice.
2 NovAdding a site starts with the permit number.
1 NovA guide to switching from other software, and what happens to your old records.
27 OctA free page to check a waste carrier's registration.
27 OctA carrier number you type stays put, whichever box you fill in first.
26 OctSigning up with an email that already has an account says so.
25 OctEach load shows its change history: what was edited and when.
25 OctA hazardous waste code can't be sent as not hazardous.
25 OctA page for each of 325 waste codes, with what English sites did with that waste in 2024.
25 OctA company's owner can see who has access and take it away.
25 OctEveryone at a company has a role: viewers read, operators log loads, owners look after sites.
25 OctNo signal at the gate? Loads stay on the phone and go up by themselves when it's back.
20 OctThe app asks before saving a load with midnight as the time it arrived.
18 OctThe home screen says the one next step.
17 OctThe app fills in the Environment Agency's quarterly return (England) for you to check and email in.
17 OctA page with the app's results on Defra's own test scenarios, and everything it doesn't do yet.
17 OctWhen Defra's service is down the app says so, keeps your loads, sends them when it's back, and keeps a dated record of the outage you can print under Export.
17 OctThe Day sheet no longer asks whether to clear a load you've just saved.
17 OctThe permit check result has a Start free button that carries your permit number into sign-up.
17 OctThe password reset page shows properly again. It had been showing garbled text.
16 OctWelsh sites type their own site details. The Welsh register's licence doesn't allow it to be copied into the app.
16 OctTwo straight-answer guides: is there free digital waste tracking software, and what being listed on GOV.UK does and doesn't mean.
16 OctTyping a permit number fills in your site from the full Environment Agency register, updated 16 October 2026.
16 OctSign-up asks you to tick that you agree to the Terms and the Data Processing Agreement.
16 OctConsultants have their own sign-up link to give clients.
16 OctAn About page with a 30-second video of the app.
15 OctAn invitation to join a company now needs the link we email, so only the person invited gets in.
15 OctSeven guide pages no longer scroll sideways on a phone.
15 OctGuides for each kind of site (skip hire, scrap metal, composting, landfill and more), a checklist, and a page for consultants.
15 OctAdd site asks which country the site is in when the postcode is near a border.
14 OctEvery load says where it is: waiting, sending, at Defra with its reference, or held, and when it's due.
14 OctBring in loads from a spreadsheet. Every row is checked against Defra's rules before anything is saved.
14 OctSave asks if the same waste code is on a load twice.
14 OctScottish deadlines skip Easter Monday, which isn't a working day there.
14 OctSEPA and Northern Ireland permit numbers are accepted the way they're printed.
12 OctGuides for sites in Scotland and Northern Ireland.
12 OctA page for carriers on what's coming in 2027, with a waiting list.
12 OctThe Defra card asks one question first and shows only the steps that apply to you.
12 OctAdd site asks what kind of site it is and sets the screens up to match.
12 OctEach waste on a load can carry its own R or D code.
12 OctIf your permit is already in the app under your company, you can ask to join it.
12 OctThe Day sheet has a Haulier column for sites that use more than one.
12 OctThe connect guide says plainly that Defra's helpline number isn't your API code.
12 OctThe permit box takes a permit number however it's written, and the Defra code box says what you've pasted if it's the wrong number.
12 OctFind your carrier on the Environment Agency register from the load form.
12 OctNo R or D code is filled in for you without a tap.
12 OctA guide for each question sites keep asking: the API code, carrier numbers, R and D codes, EWC codes, bank holidays and putting a mistake right.
12 OctA quick double tap can't add the same waste to a load twice.

From the founder

I'm Wilf Byrne. I built Byrne Waste Tracking myself, for small permitted sites that take waste in, and I wrote every guide on this site too.

When you email, I read it and I answer it, the same working day. Most of the changes above started as a question from a site, and I'd rather put a problem right in the app than explain it twice.

These numbers come straight from the system, and I'll keep them up to date, good or bad.

Want to see it for yourself? Test results and known limits · Your first load, one box at a time · All guides

Want this done for you at the gate?

Byrne Waste Tracking runs in the browser on a phone at the gate, with nothing to install. It remembers your carriers and their numbers, offers the waste codes and R or D codes your site uses, checks each load against Defra's rules before it saves, and sends it to Defra automatically once you've linked your Defra account. Byrne Digital Solutions is listed on GOV.UK as a compatible software provider.

14 days free, then from £89 a month per site, no contract, and there's no card to enter until you start it. No setup fee, and you see your price before you pay anything.

A site in Scotland or Northern Ireland that joins before 1 January 2027 pays nothing until 1 January 2027. Scotland starts that day and DAERA say January 2027 for Northern Ireland.

Got a waste consultant? Ask them about Byrne first: they can introduce you, your site is set up for you, and it shows on their Clients screen. How that works.

Create a free account Log a pretend load first

Already a customer? Open the app. Stuck on something here? Email wilf@byrnedigitalsolutions.co.uk - email is the quickest way to reach me, and I reply the same working day.