WasteLinks Joins DEFRA's Digital Waste Tracking Public Beta

Some News We Are Genuinely Proud Of

This week WasteLinks was accepted into DEFRA's Receipt of Waste public beta, the government programme behind the UK's new Digital Waste Tracking service. In plain terms, we are now one of the software providers working directly with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs as the country's waste industry moves from paper records to digital ones.

If you have been following our updates, you will know why this matters so much. From October 2026, waste receiving sites in England, Wales and Northern Ireland must report every load of waste they accept to DEFRA's new system, and by October 2027 the requirement reaches carriers, brokers and dealers too. It is the biggest change to waste record keeping in a generation, and it replaces a world of paper transfer notes and filing cabinets with a single digital record for every movement of waste in the country.

What DEFRA's Receipt of Waste Public Beta Actually Is

Before a government system of this scale goes live, DEFRA works with a group of software providers to test the connection between their platforms and the official service. That group is the public beta. Several hundred waste receivers expressed interest through their software providers, and DEFRA is now onboarding those providers so that testing can begin properly.

Being part of it means our team now has access to DEFRA's test environment, their technical workshops and their developer support channels. It also means that when the rules take effect, WasteLinks customers and carriers will be running on software that was tested alongside the people who built the national system, rather than something bolted together after the deadline.

Our Digital Waste Tracking Integration Is Already Built

Here is the part we are most pleased about. Our integration with the Digital Waste Tracking service is already built. When a driver completes a collection through WasteLinks, our platform already produces the digital waste transfer note, records the waste codes, weights, carrier licence and destination site, and archives everything for the legal retention period. The connection to DEFRA's service is wired into that same moment, so each movement will be reported automatically, with no forms to fill in and nothing extra for the carrier or the customer to do.

We checked our implementation line by line against DEFRA's published specification and their own test examples before we were accepted, and it matches. Once our testing in the government environment is complete, every booking on WasteLinks will carry an official waste tracking number issued by DEFRA, which becomes part of the permanent record we keep for you.

What This Means If You Book Waste Services Online

Nothing changes about how you use WasteLinks, and that is rather the point. You book a skip, a clearance or a clinical collection the same way you always have. Behind the scenes, your waste movement will be reported to the regulator automatically, and your account will hold the official tracking record alongside the digital transfer note we already produce. For businesses with a duty of care, that is an audit trail you simply cannot get from a phone call and a carbon copy pad.

What This Means for UK Waste Carriers

For carriers, the October deadlines are coming whether any of us like it or not, and standalone compliance software will cost money and time that most independent operators would rather spend on the road. Carriers on WasteLinks will not need to buy anything, learn anything or change how they work. Complete the job in the driver app as normal, and the reporting happens on its own. If you have been thinking about joining the platform, honestly, there has never been a better moment to list your services.

The Road to Going Live: Testing, Approval, Launch

The path from here is clearly laid out by DEFRA, and we want to be open about exactly where we are on it. DEFRA is sending us the credentials for its official test environment. As soon as they arrive, we run our integration through that environment, including the full set of production approval scenarios the government requires every software provider to pass. DEFRA then reviews our results, and once they are happy with them, we receive production access and digital waste tracking goes live on WasteLinks for real movements.

That is the moment every booking on the platform starts carrying an official government waste tracking number, and we will announce it here the day it happens. Our goal is simple and we are on track for it: when digital waste tracking becomes law, every WasteLinks customer and carrier is compliant from day one without lifting a finger.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is DEFRA's Digital Waste Tracking service?

It is the UK government's new national system for recording waste movements digitally. Waste receiving sites must report the waste they accept from October 2026, with carriers, brokers and dealers following by October 2027. It replaces the traditional paper waste transfer note process with a single official digital record.

What does being in the public beta mean for WasteLinks customers?

It means WasteLinks is testing its connection to the government system directly with DEFRA before the rules take effect. When the requirement goes live, waste movements booked through WasteLinks will be reported automatically and will carry an official waste tracking number, with no extra work for customers or carriers.

Do I need to do anything to prepare for digital waste tracking?

If your waste services are booked through WasteLinks, no. The platform already captures everything the new system requires at the point of collection, and reporting will happen automatically once the service is live. If you manage waste through phone calls and paper notes, it would be sensible to start planning now, because the legal duty is coming.

Will digital waste tracking cost carriers on WasteLinks anything extra?

No. The reporting capability is part of the platform. Carriers complete jobs in the WasteLinks driver app exactly as they do today, and the submission to DEFRA happens behind the scenes.

When will digital waste tracking go live on WasteLinks?

As soon as DEFRA sends our test credentials, we run our integration through the government test environment and complete the official production approval scenarios. Once DEFRA has reviewed the results and is happy with them, the service goes live on WasteLinks and every booking starts carrying an official waste tracking number. We will announce that milestone on this blog.

Is WasteLinks approved by DEFRA?

WasteLinks has been accepted into the Receipt of Waste public beta, which is the official testing programme for software providers. Production approval follows a set of government test scenarios, which we will complete during the beta, and we will publish an update when that process is finished.