I need help
Tap a question to open the answer. There is no wrong question.
Who to ask inside BioteCH4
Ask your site's responsible person, or your line manager.
Internal contact details go here — replace this line with the name, phone number and email your site should use.
I cannot sign in, or my organisation is not listed
Check you are using your organisation's account, not a personal Government Gateway account. Check you picked the right organisation on the "Who do you want to represent?" screen.
If the organisation still is not listed, someone must give your account access to it. Ask the site's responsible person. Do not report the load under a different organisation.
I cannot find the file I saved
Open File Explorer (the yellow folder icon at the bottom of the screen) and click Downloads, then Documents, then Recent.
Or open Excel. Recently used files are listed under Recent on the opening screen.
I do not know what to put in a field
Check the 2_Data definitions tab inside the spreadsheet first. It explains each field.
If it is still unclear, ask the site's responsible person. Never guess, and never copy a value from a different load.
DEFRA rejected my upload
Common causes:
- The formatting of the template was changed, or the data was copied into a blank spreadsheet
- A red mandatory field is empty
- A conditional mandatory field was missed, for example hazardous waste details
- The delivery reference does not match exactly on both tabs
- An EWC code was turned into a date by Excel — type an apostrophe (') in front of it
Fix the file, save it, and upload it again. A submission error must be put right within the same 2 working days you had to report the load.
I need to correct something DEFRA already accepted
You can only update a record if DEFRA gave you a waste tracking reference for that movement. On the "Report receipt of waste" screen, choose Upload a spreadsheet that has Waste tracking IDs.
Correct it as soon as you can and always within 1 month of discovering it. This applies both to data you submitted and to waste information that was given to you.
The system is down, or I have no internet
If you cannot submit because of an outage, for example building damage or a network failure:
- Tell your regulator as soon as you can — unless you have been told the outage is because the service itself is unavailable
- Make and keep a written record of the receipt of waste data within 2 working days from the day after the load arrived
- Put that written record into the service within 7 working days, starting the day after the outage is resolved
- Show your written record to the regulator as soon as you can if they ask for it
How is the 2 working day deadline counted?
Counting starts the day after the waste arrived. Weekends and bank holidays do not count as working days.
Example: waste arrives 9am on Monday. Counting starts Tuesday. You must submit by the end of Wednesday.
Does this replace our transfer and consignment notes?
No. Keep completing waste transfer notes, consignment notes and any returns that already apply to your site, alongside this digital reporting, until official guidance tells you otherwise.
Our older internal guide said digital tracking replaces them. That is the one point in it that should not be followed.
Can I use our own spreadsheet?
No. You must use DEFRA's template, unchanged. Do not change formatting, copy it into a blank workbook, overwrite the format or insert comments.