Why this matters from October 2026
From October 2026, every permitted waste receiving site in England, Wales and Northern Ireland must record details of every inbound load on DEFRA's Digital Waste Tracking Service. Hazardous loads — accompanied by a Hazardous Waste Consignment Note (HWCN) — and loads containing persistent organic pollutants (POPs) are in scope from day one of Phase 1, not deferred to a later phase.
WasteMatrix is built to handle those loads correctly: the consignment data captured at the gate, validated against DEFRA's published rules, and submitted to the live Receipt of Waste API automatically.
If you want the full plain-English picture of the regulation first, our complete guide to DEFRA Digital Waste Tracking covers it end-to-end.
How WasteMatrix handles consignment notes
Each of these is built on top of the DEFRA Receipt of Waste API specification and PAT-tested against the corresponding scenario.
Hazardous components per load
Multiple hazardous components can be recorded against a single waste receipt, with the required validation applied before submission. This corresponds to DEFRA's H01 scenario.
POPs components alongside hazardous
Persistent organic pollutant data is captured on the same record, either alone (DEFRA's P01 scenario) or in combination with hazardous components in a single receipt (the X01 combined scenario).
Consignment Note Code, or a documented reason
Where a Hazardous Waste Consignment Note code is present, it is captured and validated. Where one is genuinely absent, WasteMatrix lets you record a documented reason in line with DEFRA's H03 scenario — so the receipt submits validly rather than being rejected at point of delivery. Submissions without a code and without a reason are rejected at the API, exactly as the spec requires.
Operator and receiver signatures on-device
Both operator and receiver signatures are captured on iPad at the point of delivery, time-stamped, and attached to the record. No paper trail to chase later.
Automatic submission to the DEFRA API, with retry
Every receipt submits to the live DEFRA Receipt of Waste API. Failed submissions queue and retry rather than blocking the load — operations keep moving, and you are alerted to the failure rather than discovering it days later.
Full audit trail
Every consignment record — components, codes, reasons, signatures, submission status, retries — is time-stamped and traceable on demand. Regulator-ready, indefinitely.
We can walk a real consignment from gate to DEFRA confirmation in a 30-minute demo.
Built for hazardous waste receivers
Hazardous waste transfer stations, treatment and recovery facilities, ADR-handling sites, POPs-handling specialists, and integrated waste companies running hazardous streams alongside non-hazardous. If your environmental permit covers hazardous receipts, the October 2026 mandate applies to you — and WasteMatrix is built around the way those loads actually arrive.
Paper consignment notes are not going away yet
Paper Hazardous Waste Consignment Notes still travel with the load under the existing Duty of Care rules. Digital Waste Tracking sits alongside paper, not instead of it. WasteMatrix supports both modes — capture the paper details digitally on receipt, and the digital record satisfies the DEFRA mandate without replacing the legal paper chain.
DEFRA has not published a hard cut-off date for paper consignment notes. The transition happens as later phases of the service come into force; until then, both stay in play.
Pricing
WasteMatrix is £30 per month for 2 users, with each additional user at £5 per month. That's it — no tiers, no hazardous add-on, no surprises. Consignment note handling, POPs, audit trail and DEFRA submission are included from day one.
Frequently asked questions
Does WasteMatrix handle both hazardous and POPs waste in one consignment record?
Yes. Combined hazardous and POPs records are supported and PAT-tested under DEFRA's X01 scenario, alongside hazardous-only (H01–H03) and POPs-only (P01) scenarios.
What if a load arrives without a Hazardous Waste Consignment Note code?
WasteMatrix lets you record a documented reason in line with DEFRA's H03 scenario — the receipt submits validly to the Receipt of Waste API rather than being rejected at point of delivery. Submissions with no code and no reason are rejected, exactly as the spec requires (H02).
Are paper consignment notes still legally required after October 2026?
Yes. Paper Hazardous Waste Consignment Notes continue to travel with the load under the existing Duty of Care rules. Digital Waste Tracking sits alongside paper, not instead of it. WasteMatrix supports both.
What happens if the DEFRA API rejects a submission?
Failed submissions queue and retry automatically — they do not block the load. You are notified of failures and can correct details directly in the app.
Does DEFRA endorse specific software vendors?
No. DEFRA does not endorse, accredit or certify individual commercial software products. What it does do is run a Provider Approval Test (PAT) process and publish a list of vendors that have successfully integrated with the DWT API. WasteMatrix has passed the PAT process, including the hazardous and POPs scenarios, and is integrated with the live Receipt of Waste API.
The DEFRA-published vendor list
From June 2026, DEFRA will publish on gov.uk a list of commercially available software providers and products that have successfully integrated with the Digital Waste Tracking API. The publication target was confirmed on 28 May 2026 by Naveed Parvez, Lead Product Manager in DEFRA's Digital Waste Tracking team, on the official Defra Digital blog.
Per DEFRA's DWT API Terms of Service, the published list is reviewed and updated fortnightly.
WasteMatrix® is integrated with the live Receipt of Waste API and has passed DEFRA's Provider Approval Test, including the hazardous and POPs scenarios (H01–H03, P01, X01).