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What changed on 1 October 2026

And what does not.

Garages: no new duty. Receiving sites: a new duty since 1 October 2026.

In force

00:00, Thursday 1 October 2026

UK time

The Digital Waste Tracking (England) Regulations 2026

SI 2026/729 · made 24 June 2026

What it requires

  • Who: sites in England holding an environmental permit to receive waste.
  • What: every load they receive is recorded on the government's digital waste tracking service.
  • Includes: who carried the load and their waste carrier registration number, the vehicle registration, waste codes, weights, and the recovery or disposal operation.
  • When: by the end of the second working day after the day the load arrives.
  • Cost to those sites: £26 a year per organisation.

What it does not change

  • Garages and other waste producers have no new duty. The duty of care is unchanged.
  • Waste transfer notes continue as before.
  • Sites operating under a registered exemption, such as T8, are not covered. Exemptions are lawful.
Read the RegulationsGOV.UK guidance

  1. 1. Receiving sites record each load

    Since 1 October 2026, sites in England holding an environmental permit to receive waste must record each load of controlled waste they receive on the government's digital waste tracking service by the end of the second working day after the day the load is received. It costs £26 a year for each organisation; the first payment is due by 31 January 2027.

  2. 2. Waste transfer notes continue

    Waste transfer notes continue exactly as they are now.

  3. 3. Garages are not in this phase

    Garages and other waste producers are not part of this first phase.

  4. 4. Registered exemptions are not in it

    Sites operating under a registered exemption, including the T8 exemption for tyres, are not part of this first phase either. Registered exemptions are lawful.

  5. 5. Wider phases are planned

    Defra's published timeline plans to make digital waste tracking mandatory for waste carriers from October 2027. This is a plan, not yet law.

  6. 6. What a garage should keep either way

    Whatever phase applies to whom, a garage should keep who took the tyres, their registration number, the date, how many, and where they went.

What our copy of the register shows today

Environment Agency public register, copied 9 October 2026.

  • 428,512

    registrations in force. Registered — taken from the Environment Agency’s public register.

  • 148,995

    Upper tier registrations among them. Registered — taken from the Environment Agency’s public register.

  • 7,733

    Active registrations expiring within 90 days. Registered — taken from the Environment Agency’s public register.

  • 1,343

    Registrations whose business name suggests tyre work. Inferred — the register itself does not record what a carrier collects. This is not a count of tyre collectors.

Registrations in force on the day counted, on TyresGone's copy of the Environment Agency's public register of waste carriers, brokers and dealers for England: every registration our copy shows the register still listing, that TyresGone does not withhold, and that has not expired. Lower-tier registrations do not expire, so every listed one counts; an upper-tier registration counts up to and including its expiry date. Every kind of carrier, broker and dealer is counted, not only tyre collectors, wherever its business address is.

These businesses are registered waste carriers with the Environment Agency. Some are listed here because their registered name suggests this waste; others because their name and postcode match a record on another public register, such as a scrap metal dealer licence or an authorised treatment facility permit. Neither is a statement by the carrier. A register records what a business is permitted to do, not what it does. Always confirm with the carrier before you hand over waste.

Sources

Last reviewed: 1 October 2026

What is planned for waste carriers