Digital waste tracking is now mandatory for receiversThe guide

’s weighbridge book.
Replaced.

Waste receivers of every kind - transfer stations, MRFs, EfW plants, treatment sites, scrap yards and metal recycling sites. Receipts in 60 seconds, consignee returns generated automatically, and every load arriving with its WTN already digital. Built around the gate, not bolted on after.

A weighbridge operative leaning out of a site-gate kiosk, holding a tablet towards a tipper lorry on the weighbridge

60 sec

Gate to receipt

From axle on to ticket out

850+

EWC codes built in

Hazardous + non-hazardous

100%

Consignee returns

Auto-generated, auto-filed

0

Re-keying

Carriers' WTNs flow straight in

How it works

How it works for receivers

This is live today. DEFRA takes waste tracking submissions from receiving sites, mandatory from 1 October 2026 in England and Wales and from January 2027 in Scotland and Northern Ireland. Filing is on every plan including the free one.

Weighbridge operativeOffice

The lorry arrives

Three ways to start: key it in, scan the driver's LoadSnap code, or enter a DEFRA tracking ID

Who brought it

Carrier, vehicle and driver from your own library, with the carrier's registration checked against the Environment Agency register as you pick them

What is on it

Photograph the load and the code comes back; sealed loads are keyed in from the consignment note

Weigh it

Gross and tare at the bridge and LoadSnap nets it, with the container type and how many

The office checks it

The operative sends it up and the office confirms the codes, the disposal or recovery code and the compliance fields

File it with DEFRA

One button. A waste tracking ID comes back and sits on the record

DEFRA digital waste tracking

Why the rollout runs backwards - and what it means for you

DEFRA is mandating the receiving side before the carrying side. LoadSnap is built for both phases, so you're ready whichever side of the gate you're on.

Phase 1 · receivers firstFrom October 2026

Receivers go digital while the carrier side is still on paper

DEFRA has started with the people who receive waste, not the people who carry it. So for now the carrier still turns up with a paper transfer note, and the receiving site is the one that records the movement digitally and files it to DEFRA.

  • Carrier arrives; the weighbridge operative selects them from the saved carrier library and adds the vehicle reg and driver
  • Each waste item captured - a photo where the load's visible (LoadSnap's AI suggests the EWC code and description), manual entry for sealed containers; the operative can edit either way
  • Container type, count and weight (estimated or actual) captured at the bridge
  • Operative submits to the back office, who review and file the movement to DEFRA - a Waste Tracking ID comes back
Phase 2 · carriers, brokers and dealersPlanned from October 2027

The people moving and arranging the waste join in

Phase two brings in what DEFRA calls waste collectors: carriers, brokers and dealers. The regulations have not been made and the technical detail has not been published, so what any of them will actually have to record is not yet known. What is known is the timetable.

  • A private beta for invited collectors from autumn 2026
  • A public beta open to all collectors from spring 2027
  • Mandatory for collectors from October 2027, on DEFRA's published plan rather than in law
  • Nothing a carrier or broker can file today, and nothing LoadSnap or anyone else can file on their behalf

LoadSnap digitises the whole workflow and produces your WTNs and records on both sides today. DEFRA submission is live for receiving sites now, and switches on for carriers when their phase starts.

Beyond compliance

More than just compliance

Your drivers have a portal. Your vehicles are tracked. Your data connects to your accounting.

Vehicle checks

Daily pre-use checks with photo issue reporting, odometer tracking, MOT and tax alerts

Driver management

Full profiles. Licence expiry. Training records. Smart assignment matching qualifications to job requirements.

Job scheduling

List, calendar, and map views. Assign drivers and vehicles. One-tap navigation via Google Maps or Waze.

Driver map

See where drivers last completed a job. Timestamps and job locations with the day's route.

Expense + fuel logging

Drivers photograph receipts. AI reads amount, merchant, litres. Admin approves. CSV export.

Fuel finder

Live fuel prices at every UK station, filtered by fuel type. Powered by FuelChecker.

Route planning

Jobs on a map with optimised stop order. Turn-by-turn via Google Maps or Waze. No app.

Digital signatures

Customer signs on the driver's phone. Signature embedded on the Waste Transfer Note PDF.

The receiver workflow

Every gate, every weighbridge, every consignee return.

Operatives, supervisors, and your compliance lead all on the same system - with the regulator API on the other end of it.

Works with any weighbridge

Read gross and tare off your existing bridge and key them in; LoadSnap works out the net and files the record. No hardware integration, no install.

AI on the arriving load

Photo + carrier ticket → EWC code confirmed, hazardous flagged. Operative just confirms.

QR / NFC scan

Driver shows the carrier's QR. Site, customer, EWC and WTN are already on screen. Hit weigh, hit print.

Consignee returns

Filed quarterly with DEFRA without lifting a finger. Period totals, per-EWC tonnage, the lot.

Permit limits

Annual tonnage limits monitored continuously - alerts at 70% / 85% / 95%, hard-stop options at 100%.

Hazardous handling

HWCN-aware. Premises codes, H-codes, sign-off chain. Storage and onward routing fully tracked.

Receiver-side superpower

Loads arrive already digital.

When a LoadSnap carrier pulls onto your weighbridge, their WTN, customer, EWC and signature are already in your system. You read the bridge, key in the weight, capture the photo, and the receipt prints itself.

  • QR / NFC scan at the gate

    No more handing tickets through cab windows. Driver shows the code, the load is on the screen.

  • Photo evidence captured

    Top-down of the load against the weighbridge timestamp. Defensible in an audit, indispensable in a dispute.

  • Operative-only mode

    Lock the tablet to the receive flow only. No menus, no inbox, no risk of someone hitting the wrong thing.

Weighbridge receipt09:41

Gross

31.20 t

Tare

12.74 t

Net

18.46 t

Carrier

M&J Skips

EWC 17 01 07

Built for UK receivers

The October 2026 mandate, handled.

Day-one DEFRA submission

Receiver filing has been mandatory since 1 October 2026. We were in the DWT Beta from the start.

Multi-site permissions

One company, many gates. Per-site settings, per-user roles, consolidated returns.

Documents archive

Every WTN, HWCN, consignee return, photo and signature kept for the statutory 3 years, searchable.

Environmental reports

Tonnage by EWC, recovery rates, R/D code reporting. Bake your DEFRA returns out as a PDF.

Questions

Receiver questions, answered.

01Who is LoadSnap for on the receiving side?
Any permitted site that takes waste in: transfer stations, MRFs, energy-from-waste plants, treatment and recovery sites, scrap yards and metal recycling sites, and skip operators with their own tip. It runs the whole gate, from receipt to consignee returns, and scales from a single site to a multi-depot operator with API and white-label.
02Do you integrate with our weighbridge or scales?
Yes, if you want it to. The free LoadSnap weighbridge connector reads the weight off any indicator that sends its reading as text, on the weighbridge computer, alongside the software already there. It only reads. Without it, the operative keys in the gross and tare; LoadSnap calculates the net and files the record either way.
03Is DEFRA submission included?
Yes. DEFRA Digital Waste Tracking submission is included on every plan, not an add-on. LoadSnap files live to DEFRA Digital Waste Tracking (DWT), took part in its beta, and is listed on the GOV.UK report-receipt-of-waste software-provider list as Webhero - LoadSnap.
04When does the receiver requirement apply?
Digital Waste Tracking has been mandatory for receiving sites in England and Wales since 1 October 2026, and starts in Scotland and Northern Ireland in January 2027. Receivers must report receipt of waste digitally; LoadSnap is built for it, has passed DEFRA's production approval tests and is listed on the gov.uk register.
05Does it generate consignee returns?
Yes. Consignee returns are generated from the loads you accept and filed with DEFRA on the required cycle, with per-EWC tonnage and period totals, so you are not compiling them by hand.

Digital waste tracking is live

The mandate is here.
Automate compliance.

Receiving sites in England and Wales have had to record every load digitally since 1 October 2026. Start a 14-day free trial in minutes, cancel any time before it ends, and file every load from day one.

DEFRA API integrated · EA carrier verification · UK data residency