Report waste to DEFRA — full guide
All nine steps on one page.
Deadline
Report every load. You have 2 working days from the day after the waste arrived. Weekends and bank holidays do not count. Waste arriving 9am Monday must be reported by the end of Wednesday.
Digital reporting does not replace waste transfer notes, consignment notes or existing returns. Keep completing them.
1. Before you start
Have DEFRA access for the right organisation, Excel, the delivery paperwork, the weighbridge information and the approved waste codes. If anything is missing, ask the site's responsible person. Never guess.
2. Choose the organisation
Six separately registered organisations:
- CHANGING WASTE LTD
- HEMSWELL BIOGAS LIMITED
- HOLME BIOENERGY LIMITED
- LOCAL GENERATION LIMITED
- R100 ENERGY LIMITED
- THORNFIELD 001 LIMITED
Each organisation needs its own spreadsheet and its own upload.
3. Download the DEFRA template
On GOV.UK "Report receipt of waste", sign in for that organisation and choose Download spreadsheet template. The file goes to your Downloads folder. Double-click it to open it in Excel and click Enable Editing if asked. Never change the template.
4. Waste movement level
Click the tab 7_Waste movement level. Fill in one row for the delivery: your unique delivery reference, when and where the waste arrived, the carrier and vehicle, and where the waste came from. Write your delivery reference down. Red fields are mandatory.
5. Waste item level
Click the tab 8_Waste item level. Enter the same delivery reference exactly. Then the EWC code (prefix a single code with an apostrophe; separate several with semi-colons and no spaces), the waste description, physical form, number and type of containers, the weight unit and the total weight. Use only codes approved for your site.
6. Check your entries
Every red mandatory field filled in on both tabs, plus any conditional mandatory fields your answers trigger — for example hazardous waste details. Same delivery reference on both tabs. Do not change formatting, copy onto a blank sheet, overwrite the format or insert comments. Several movements for one organisation can share a file; start a fresh file after submitting.
7. Save and close
Press Ctrl + S. Save as an Excel Workbook (.xlsx) in a folder you will remember. Write down the file name and folder. Close Excel.
8. Sign in to GOV.UK and upload
Open gov.uk/guidance/report-receipt-of-waste in a new tab. Use the organisation's account, never a personal Government Gateway account. Then: Start now → answer the local authority question (our companies are not councils, so No) → choose your sign-in route → choose the correct organisation → Report receipt of waste → Upload a spreadsheet → Choose File → your saved file → Open → Upload → follow DEFRA's remaining instructions.
9. Check the result
Read DEFRA's own message. Keep the waste tracking reference with the delivery paperwork and the completed spreadsheet. Correct a submission error within the same 2 working days. Correct an error discovered later within 1 month, using Upload a spreadsheet that has Waste tracking IDs.
If there is an outage
Tell your regulator as soon as you can, unless the service itself has been reported unavailable. Make and keep a written record of the data within 2 working days from the day after the load arrived. Put it into the service within 7 working days of the outage being resolved. Show the record to the regulator on request.