Digital Waste Tracking: your questions answered

It is the government’s online service for recording waste movements. From 1 October 2026, sites in England and Wales that receive waste under a permit or licence must report every load they receive to it, using the service Defra calls Report receipt of waste. It sits alongside your existing paperwork rather than replacing it.

If your site receives waste under an environmental permit or waste licence, almost certainly yes. GOV.UK says it applies to all permitted operations, installations and mobile plant. The exemptions are narrow: household waste recycling centres in Wales, household waste received at English HWRCs, and people who are digitally excluded. If you are unsure, ask us and we’ll tell you straight.

1 October 2026 in England and Wales. 1 January 2027 in Scotland and Northern Ireland.

2 working days. The clock starts the day after the waste arrives, and weekends and bank holidays don’t count. A load received on Friday must be reported by the end of Tuesday.

The regulator can issue compliance notices, £1,000 fixed penalties and unlimited variable penalties. Knowingly making false or misleading records can lead to prosecution, unlimited fines and up to 2 years in prison.

Yes. GOV.UK is clear that you must still complete waste transfer notes, Annex VII forms and hazardous waste consignment notes. Digital Waste Tracking is an extra duty, not a replacement.

Yes. Defra charges £26 a year per organisation, which covers every waste-receiving site that organisation has. The first payment is due by 31 January 2027. This is paid to Defra and is separate from any software you use.

No. Defra lets you upload its own spreadsheet template instead. You must use their template unchanged, and you start a new one after every submission. That works for a site taking a handful of loads. If you take loads every day, software that remembers your sites, carriers and waste codes and checks every field before sending will save hours and rejected submissions. That is what DWT Direct does.

DWT Direct is Digital Waste Tracking software from Nexxaa. You log each load once in a simple grid, it checks every field, submits the record to the government service and stores the tracking code against the load. On the GOV.UK list of compatible software it appears under our platform name: Nexxaa Ltd – OpCheck.

£49 a month + VAT, or £490 a year + VAT (two months free). There are no load limits and everything is included. Defra’s own £26 annual charge is paid to Defra separately.

Register your organisation on Defra’s service using your organisation’s Government Gateway or GOV.UK One Login account. Defra then gives you a unique API code. Paste that code into DWT Direct once and you’re connected. One code covers every site that organisation operates.

You do. The Defra account and API code belong to your business. We never register or hold an account on your behalf, so if you ever leave, your government records stay with you.

Yes. DWT Direct runs on the same system as OpCheck, our compliance platform for fleet, waste, drivers and licences. When you upgrade, your records come with you. Nothing is re-entered.

No. On OpCheck, driver accounts are free. You only pay for office users.

Nexxaa Ltd (company number 16762606), based in Sheffield. The software is backed by Envirologistics Consulting & Training, a transport and waste compliance consultancy with 30 years in the industry, WAMITAB Level 4 and FCILT qualified, ISO 9001 certified and a DVSA Earned Recognition authorised audit provider.

Call 0114 291 9248 or email support@nexxaa.com, Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm UK time. You’ll speak to people who know waste.