Market Intelligence

Digital Waste Tracking Starts: What Tyre Operators Need to Know

Published:
October 2, 2026
Author:
James Lockwood

Mandatory digital reporting began on 1 October for covered waste receivers in England and Wales. Existing waste paperwork continues.

Tyre recovery businesses licensed or permitted to receive controlled waste in England and Wales must now report incoming loads through the Government’s digital waste tracking service.

The requirement began on 1 October 2026. Covered operators must report every load within two working days, starting on the day after receipt, and receive a unique reference number before the deadline.

Which Tyre Businesses Are Covered?

According to GOV.UK reporting guidance, the requirement covers permitted operations, installations and mobile plants receiving controlled waste. It also includes permitted sites located where the waste is produced.

Operations carried out under waste exemptions are outside this first phase. Registration as a waste carrier, broker or dealer does not, by itself, create a receiving-site reporting duty. A business that also operates a licensed or permitted receiving site must assess that operation separately.

For tyre businesses, the distinction depends on the permissions under which they receive and handle waste. GOV.UK

What Operators Must Report

The service, called Report receipt of waste, requires information about each incoming load, including movement, carrier and receiver details, waste classification codes, and recovery or disposal codes.

Additional information is required for waste containing persistent organic pollutants or hazardous properties. Operators should check the official template and guidance for the fields that apply.

Records can be submitted through compatible software connected to the service or by uploading Defra’s spreadsheet template. Operators cannot use their own spreadsheet or change the template’s format. Multiple movements can be included before submission, but a new spreadsheet must be used for the next submission.

Defra expects the spreadsheet route to remain available until at least October 2027, with its withdrawal subject to review. GOV.UK

How the Deadline Works

The reporting window excludes weekends and bank holidays and starts on the day after the waste arrives.

For example, a load received on Thursday, 1 October 2026 must be successfully reported, with a unique reference number received, by 11:59pm on Monday, 5 October.

Submission errors notified by email or software must be corrected within the original two-working-day window. The notification does not create a new deadline.

Separately, errors discovered in submitted data or in waste information supplied to the operator must be corrected as soon as possible and within one month of discovery. GOV.UK

What Happens During an Outage?

Operators unable to submit because of an outage must notify their regulator as soon as possible, unless they have already been notified that the government service is unavailable.

They must make and retain written records within the usual two-working-day window, upload them within seven working days starting on the day after the outage is resolved, and provide regulator access if requested. GOV.UK

Existing Paperwork Remains Required

Digital reporting runs alongside existing waste documentation.

Operators must continue completing waste transfer notes, Annex VII forms and hazardous waste consignment notes where required. Environmental permit waste returns and hazardous waste consignee returns also remain required until further notice.

For covered receiving sites, the immediate change is an additional reporting duty alongside existing records and returns. GOV.UK

Fees and the Next Phases

Defra’s Report receipt of waste guidance confirms an annual charge of £26 per organisation, covering all its waste-receiving sites. The first payment is due by 31 January 2027.

The published rollout timetable schedules mandatory reporting for receiving sites in Scotland and Northern Ireland from January 2027. The next phase, covering waste carriers, brokers and dealers, is planned for October 2027. GOV.UK

TNM’s earlier TRA Briefing Day coverage highlighted the digital reporting deadline alongside uncertainty over the T8 exemption withdrawal timetable. tyrenews.co.uk

Covered operators must now ensure each incoming load is recorded, submitted successfully and assigned a reference number within the required window.

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Tags: digital waste tracking, waste tyres, tyre recovery, tyre recycling, Defra, Report receipt of waste, waste reporting, waste transfer notes, environmental permits, waste exemptions

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