Does your site hold a permit or an exemption?
Permitted or licensed sites receiving controlled waste in England and Wales must report it from 1 October 2026. Controlled waste includes most household, commercial and industrial waste. Sites operating under a registered waste exemption are outside this phase; GOV.UK says they will be included in a later phase.
For permitted or licensed receivers in Scotland and Northern Ireland, it starts in January 2027. Check the official guidance for your site and any exceptions.
Check on GOV.UK whether you need to report the waste you receive.
For the deadline, registration, Defra’s charge and the two ways to report, read what a scrap yard has to do from 1 October 2026.
If you are not sure which you hold, message us and we will go through it with you. It costs nothing and you do not have to buy anything.
T9 exemption: due to be removed in April 2027
If your yard works under a T9 exemption (recovering scrap metal) in England, that is due to change. GOV.UK says that, if Parliament approves the new rules, T9 will be withdrawn on 6 April 2027. You will need to apply for an environmental permit before then. If you apply in time, you can keep working under your exemption while the permit is processed. Once your site holds a permit, the waste it receives must be reported through Digital Waste Tracking. Read the new exemption rules on GOV.UK.
Defra will take the records on a spreadsheet
You do not have to buy software. Defra publishes a template: download it, fill it in and upload it. The load goes on one sheet; the waste items go on another, linked by the same reference. You cannot use your own spreadsheet or change the template’s format.
The template costs nothing. Defra charges £26 a year for each organisation on the account, whether you send by spreadsheet or through software. The spreadsheet is worth trying if you can collect the information, submit it and deal with errors on time. ScrapLog reuses the load already entered at the gate.
How to use Defra’s spreadsheet
What ScrapLog does about it
Start by setting each site as permitted or exempt. For an exempt site, ScrapLog does not create or send Digital Waste Tracking records.
For a permitted site, enter its permit details and save the organisation’s Defra API code before the first load. This is the code Defra gives you to connect your organisation to reporting software. You enter it yourself in ScrapLog’s settings. New loads then create their waste records from the details entered at the gate. Loads taken before this setup are not added to Defra automatically.
The reporting deadline. The record must reach Defra, and its reference number come back, by the end of the second working day after the load arrives. Weekends and bank holidays do not count.
With the usual setting, completing the load makes its record ready to send. The owner can choose to send when the gate saves it instead. A waiting record also becomes ready in the last twelve hours before its deadline, even if the office has not completed the load. This does not bypass errors: the office must check and deal with records needing attention.
The record includes the waste description and codes, weights, site and carrier details. It does not include seller ID documents, photographs, the seller’s address or payment details. Waste codes are set against your metals in the office; the app suggests codes for you to check.
What waste tracking does not replace
Keep completing waste transfer notes, hazardous-waste consignment notes and Annex VII forms where required. Your permit returns and hazardous-waste consignee returns also continue alongside Digital Waste Tracking.
ScrapLog prepares figures for the quarterly hazardous-waste consignee return as a file. You check them, copy them into the Environment Agency’s required format and submit the return yourself.
Where we stand
- Sending to Defra’s live service
- Switched on since 1 October 2026, for permitted sites set up with their Defra API code. The Defra page shows accepted records and anything needing attention. A record waiting to send has not been accepted yet.
- Defra’s 14 test scenarios: our own results
- ScrapLog passes all 14 of the test scenarios Defra publishes for reporting software, with no exemptions. We first ran them on 26 August 2026, and again on 23 October 2026 with the current software. Two of the scenarios check that a record with missing details is refused: ScrapLog refuses those itself, before anything is sent. Each software provider now runs these tests itself; Defra does not check the results. We run them again after any change to what ScrapLog sends, and you can ask us for the dated results.
- A known limit
- ScrapLog can record the concentration of a hazardous substance or a persistent organic pollutant only as an exact amount, not as “more than” or “less than” a figure.
- The GOV.UK list of compatible software providers
- Listed since 8 September 2026 as ECET Solutions Limited — ScrapLog. Being on the list confirms that ScrapLog connects to Defra’s service for reporting waste received. It is not Defra saying that ScrapLog meets the regulations or has passed the tests. Reporting the waste your site receives stays your duty, whichever software you use.
What the same load gives you
The office uses the same load to check weights and prices. It contributes to stock and can be found later in your records. You can keep payment records in ScrapLog or name the app where you keep them. Naming it does not connect the apps.
At the gate · In the office · Stock and records
What ScrapLog costs
£200 a month, per site, and £300 once to set your yard up. No VAT is currently charged. Use your own suitable phone or tablet and office computer. Digital Waste Tracking is included in the subscription; Defra’s £26 annual organisation charge is separate.