Defra’s Digital Waste Tracking spreadsheet, opened and counted.

What it is

GOV.UK: “If you do not have the software needed to use the API, you can send your data using Defra’s receipt of waste template spreadsheet.” You download it, fill in the mandatory cells, upload it. Two of their rules: “You cannot use your own spreadsheet or make format changes to Defra’s version”, and “After you submit it, you will need to use a new spreadsheet for your next submission.” You can put several loads in one file before you send it.

Download the template from Defra — the file we counted, 16 September 2026. Its cover sheet says version v.1. If yours says something else, yours is the current one.

What is inside

Ten sheets. Seven are reference: a cover, a page of guidance, the data definitions, and the code lists you will pick from — waste codes, disposal and recovery codes, POP names, hazardous property codes — plus a sheet of dropdown values. Two you fill in: 7. Waste movement level (the load: where it came from, who brought it, when) and 8. Waste item level (what was in it).

What one load takes

A row on each of the two sheets, joined by a column Defra call Your unique reference — in their words, “For example, a weighbridge ticket number or waste transfer note number.”

7. Waste movement level — 29 columns

10 mandatory · 3 mandatory depending on the load · 14 optional · 2 left blank for Defra to fill in after upload.

8. Waste item level — 18 columns

12 mandatory · 5 mandatory depending on the load · 1 left blank for Defra.

So, per load

47 columns across the two rows. 22 are always mandatory, 8 more become mandatory depending on what the load is, and the rest are optional.

The columns marked mandatory, in the template’s own names

On the movement sheet: Your unique reference · Site name · Site address · Site postcode · Receiver’s authorisation number · Date and time received · Carrier registration number · Give reasons for not having the carrier registration number · Carrier organisation name · Means of transport. Depending on the load: Vehicle registration number (if by road) · Hazardous waste consignment code · Give reasons for not having a consignment number.

On the item sheet: Your unique reference · EWC code · Waste description · Physical form · Number of containers used · Type of containers · Weight unit of measurement · Total weight of waste · Is the waste weight estimated? · Does the waste contain persistent organic pollutants (POPs)? · Is the waste hazardous? · Disposal / Recovery code & Weight. Depending on the load: POP name & concentration value · How did you determine the POPs components? · Hazardous property codes (Haz code) · Component name & concentration value · How did you determine the Hazardous components?

Three things the template itself tells you

On the waste code, from the column’s own note: “A 6-digit code that classifies and describes the waste. You can add multiple EWC codes. They must be separated by a semi colon ( ; ). If you enter only one EWC code, please ensure that Excel does not format the code as a date by prefixing the code with a single quote ( ‘ ). No spaces should be added when entering EWC codes.”

On your reference: “After uploading this will be replaced with a Waste Tracking ID, which you can provide to your customers.”

On changing something after you have sent it: “You will only be able to update a spreadsheet if you have already submitted it and been given a Waste tracking ID for that movement.”

The deadline is the same either way

GOV.UK: “You must submit records within 2 working days (excluding weekends and bank holidays), starting on the day after you receive the waste.” A Friday load is due by the end of Tuesday, on the spreadsheet as through software. The £26 a year Defra charge each organisation is the same either way too.

The whole rule on one page: what a scrap yard has to do from 1 October 2026.

Where ScrapLog comes in

The ticket your gate makes for a load already carries what the two rows ask for — the site, the date and time, who brought it, the metals, the weights, the waste code each metal was given once in the settings. If your site holds a permit, that ticket goes to Defra through their API on its own, inside the deadline; nobody types a second row. £200 a month per site and £300 once to set the yard up. If your gate takes a few loads a week, the spreadsheet will do you, and we will say so.

What ScrapLog does about waste tracking · What it costs

Where every line above comes from

Counted and read on 16 September 2026. Defra keep both current; if a line here and a line there disagree, theirs is right.

• Receipt of waste template spreadsheet — the file itself, 441 KB, cover sheet version v.1
• Report receipt of waste — GOV.UK, last updated 15 September 2026
• Digital waste tracking: check if you need to report the waste you receive — GOV.UK, published 7 August 2026