Listed on GOV.UK for digital waste tracking
DEFRA's Digital Waste Tracking Service is mandatory for permitted receiving sites from October 2026 in England and Wales. WEEE Manager is listed on GOV.UK, connects to the DWT API and keeps every record you need — without rekeying into a separate government portal.
Listed
GOV.UK compatible software
For reporting receipt of waste to DWTS
Mandatory from
October 2026
England and Wales. Jan 2027 Scotland/NI
DEFRA fee
£26 per year
Government registration fee per site
Software from
£120 a month
No setup fee. Same features every plan
What the law requires
The Digital Waste Tracking Service (DWTS) is DEFRA's replacement for paper-based waste movement recording in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. It is not optional. Once a permitted or licensed site is phased in, digital reporting of inbound loads is a legal requirement.
The mandate sits in the Environment Act 2021 and the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016 (as amended). DEFRA have confirmed the service is live and Phase 1 sites are being contacted and given a go-live date by the Environment Agency (in England), Natural Resources Wales, SEPA or NIEA, depending on jurisdiction.
The DEFRA fee to register on the service is £26 per year per site. There is no volume charge from the government. The cost of software that connects to the API is a separate commercial decision — WEEE Manager hosted plans start at £120/month.
Operators of permitted or licensed sites that receive waste. Includes waste transfer stations, MRFs, incinerators, landfill, aggregate recyclers, WEEE treatment facilities and similar. Mandatory October 2026 England & Wales; January 2027 Scotland and Northern Ireland.
Carriers registered with the Environment Agency, brokers and dealers. Also waste exemption holders. Planned mandatory date October 2027. Phase 2 operators do not need to report to DWTS yet, but receiving sites they tip at will be in Phase 1.
Waste exemption holders are not included in Phase 1. Check your Environmental Permit or licence. If you are unsure of your phase, contact the EA, NRW, SEPA or NIEA directly — they hold site-level information.
From the Environment Act 2021 through to full rollout. Key dates every waste operator needs to know.
The Act includes provisions for mandatory digital waste tracking. DEFRA begins development of the Digital Waste Tracking Service, initially referred to as "digital WTNs" and later as DWTS.
DEFRA runs a beta programme, develops the DWT API and publishes a list of compatible software providers on GOV.UK. WEEE Manager is included on that list. The temporary spreadsheet upload route is provided for sites not yet using integrated software.
The Environment Agency and Natural Resources Wales notify operators holding an Environmental Permit to receive waste of their go-live date. Sites are sent registration details and given time to register, connect software and test submissions before their mandatory date.
Permitted and licensed receiving sites in England and Wales must report receipt of waste to DEFRA's Digital Waste Tracking Service. Submissions are required by the end of the second working day after receipt. Temporary spreadsheet route expected to remain available as a fallback until at least October 2027.
SEPA (Scotland) and NIEA (Northern Ireland) go-live for Phase 1 sites. Same requirement: digital reporting of inbound loads via DWTS.
The current plan from DEFRA. Subject to confirmation. Carriers registered under the Waste (England and Wales) Regulations 2011 (and equivalent), brokers, dealers and waste exemption holders enter scope. Spreadsheet upload route expected to be withdrawn at this point.
The product in practice
The goal of DWTS is not to create extra work — it is to make the records you already have to keep go somewhere useful. WEEE Manager is built around that principle: you record the load when you receive it, the system holds it, and the DWT submission is handled through the API without needing to log into a separate government portal or rekey anything.
When a vehicle arrives your site staff open a new incoming waste record in WEEE Manager. They fill in the waste description, EWC code, quantity, unit and whether it is hazardous. Carrier and vehicle details, producer or holder information, and date and time of receipt are all captured against the record.
This is the same information you already need for duty of care records and WTNs. It is not additional data entry — it is structured entry instead of unstructured entry.
WEEE Manager stores the record against your site in the format the DWT API expects. That means the EWC code is validated, the quantity and unit are stored correctly, and the record has a clear link to your permitted site's registration on the government service.
You can review and correct records before they are submitted. DEFRA's service requires submission by the end of the second working day after receipt — the system surfaces records that are pending submission so nothing is missed.
WEEE Manager connects to DEFRA's DWT API directly. Once a record is ready, the system submits it on your behalf. The response from the service — including any reference number or rejection reason — is stored against the record so you have a clear audit trail.
No separate login to the government portal. No rekeying from your own system into a second interface. Your staff work in one system; the reporting happens behind the scenes.
What each record must contain
DEFRA's Digital Waste Tracking Service requires specific data fields for each inbound load submission. These map closely to what UK waste operators already need for duty of care records. WEEE Manager captures all of them in the same inbound record form, so the submission to DWTS is a structured export of data you already hold — not a separate form to fill in.
DEFRA made a temporary spreadsheet upload available on the DWTS portal while the API route is rolled out to all site types. It uses a specific government-format spreadsheet, uploaded manually per reporting period.
This is not a long-term route. DEFRA have confirmed it is expected to be withdrawn at or around October 2027 when Phase 2 goes mandatory. The spreadsheet must match DEFRA's own template — your existing Excel file on a shared drive is not usable without reformatting.
Software that submits through the API avoids manual reformatting, reduces the risk of submission errors and means records are reported in near real time rather than in batches. WEEE Manager uses the API route.
Spreadsheet route
API route (WEEE Manager)
The full product
Digital waste tracking is the mandate. The day-to-day running of a receiving site involves more than that. WEEE Manager handles the complete workflow: inbound records for DWTS, duty of care documentation, notes and file management, staff and jobs, and an Android app for on-site use.
Generate digital WTNs and WEEE transfer notes. Recurring notes for regular collections. All fields required for duty of care: EWC code, description, weight, carrier, site and date. Non-hazardous records kept for two years; hazardous consignment notes for three.
Listed on GOV.UK for reporting receipt of waste to the Digital Waste Tracking Service. Records captured in WEEE Manager are submitted to the DWT API. Audit trail of submission responses held in the system against each record.
Schedule and track collection jobs. Assign jobs to drivers. The Android app shows the day's jobs and marks them complete on site. Completed jobs trigger the inbound record flow at the receiving end.
Available as a download from the portal. Offline-capable so it works in yards and sites with poor signal. Jobs, walk-round vehicle checks, team chat, refuel logging and live GPS for office tracking of drivers on the road. Full app details →
Attach documents, photos and compliance files to waste records and jobs. Data destruction certificates for IT asset disposal. Organised file storage so records required for duty of care and DWT audits are findable instantly.
Role-based access for site managers, drivers and office staff. Every user gets their own login. Admin users see the full system; drivers see their jobs and the app. No shared passwords.
Also available
Connect WEEE Manager to Xero to push invoices from completed jobs directly into your accounts. Reduces double-entry for operations that invoice per collection or per load.
Price follows team size, not features. Every hosted plan includes DEFRA DWT-ready records, unlimited waste notes, cloud hosting, daily backups and support. No setup fee.
Up to 3 users
£120/mo
3–5 users
£150/mo
5–10 users
£195/mo
10–15 users
£255/mo
Business (15–20 users, £315/mo) and Unlimited (£399/mo) tiers are available. Same features, same DWT integration — price reflects headcount. See all plans →
Deploy on your own infrastructure with source access and your own branding. Priced on application. Includes the same DWT API connection and all product features.
Related reading
Who is in scope, what the exemptions are, what to prepare and when to act. A step-by-step guide to understanding the mandate — separate from this product page.
Read the compliance checklistThe mandate, the timeline, what records you need, and how WEEE Manager connects to the DWT API.
DEFRA's Digital Waste Tracking Service is the government's mandatory system for recording and reporting waste movements in the UK. Permitted receiving sites must use it to report inbound loads digitally from October 2026 in England and Wales, and from January 2027 in Scotland and Northern Ireland. It replaces paper-based tracking for sites in scope and is underpinned by a digital API that approved software connects to.
Phase 1 applies to operators of sites that are permitted or licensed to receive waste. That includes waste transfer stations, materials recovery facilities, treatment plants, incinerators, landfill, aggregate recycling, and WEEE treatment facilities. Waste exemptions are not included in Phase 1. DEFRA will contact operators directly, but the go-live dates are October 2026 for England and Wales and January 2027 for Scotland and Northern Ireland.
Carriers, brokers, dealers and waste exemption holders are in Phase 2. The planned mandatory date is October 2027. Phase 2 sites do not need to report to DWTS yet, but the receiving sites they tip at will already be in Phase 1 and will need usable digital details on each incoming load.
DEFRA maintains a public list of software that is compatible with the Digital Waste Tracking Service for reporting receipt of waste. WEEE Manager appears on that list. It means the system has the technical capability to submit records through the DWT API rather than relying on a temporary spreadsheet workaround.
For each inbound load you need the waste description, EWC code, quantity and unit, whether it is hazardous, the carrier details, the producer or holder details, and the date and time of receipt. WEEE Manager captures all of these when the load is received and holds them against the waste note so submission to the DWT API can be automated without rekeying.
DEFRA provided a temporary spreadsheet upload option on the government service while the API route is being rolled out. It is expected to remain available until at least October 2027, after which it will be withdrawn. Software that submits through the API is the intended long-term route. A shared Excel file on a local drive is not the same as reporting receipt of waste through the service.
When your staff receive a load and complete the record in WEEE Manager, the system holds the DWT-required fields in the correct format. The submission to DEFRA's Digital Waste Tracking Service is handled through the API connection, so the operator does not need to rekey information or log into a separate government portal for each movement.
Hosted plans start at £120 a month for up to three users. Every plan includes the same features: unlimited waste notes, DWT-ready records, the Android app, offline access, daily backups and support. There is no setup fee. Self-hosted is available at a price agreed on application.
No. The name reflects where it started. Today it covers general waste carriers, licensed and permitted receiving sites, WEEE treatment facilities, and mixed operations. The digital waste tracking module applies to any permitted receiving site in Phase 1, regardless of whether they handle WEEE.
DEFRA charges a fee of £26 per year to register with the Digital Waste Tracking Service. This is the government's own charge and is separate from the cost of software. It applies per site registration on the service.
Need the full compliance checklist? Read the DWTS compliance checklist →
Same software on every hosted tier. No setup fee. Request a demo if you want to see a live site first.
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