Guides › Defra API code
Part A · The number that links you to Defra
- For
- Anyone linking software to Defra
- Takes
- Two minutes
- Checked
- 12 OCTOBER 2026
Is this my Defra API code? The numbers people send instead
Your API code is what lets software send your loads to Defra in your company's name. Most people who think they've found it have found a different number. Here is how to tell.
- Looks like
- 36 characters: letters a to f and numbers, in five groups split by dashes, xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx
- Where
- Your Defra account: scroll to Action, press Manage, then Manage my API code, then Create additional code, then Copy.
- Not it
- The yellow Contact support ID box. Defra's helpline number. Any six-digit number. Your permit, carrier or company number.
- Then
- Paste it into your software, or send it to your software provider. One code covers every site your organisation runs.
The five things that get sent instead
Every one of these has been sent in as "my Defra code" by a real site. None of them will link your account.
And one more that confuses people once loads are going in: a short code of letters and numbers next to a
load, starting with the year, such as 26AB12CD. That is the Defra ID for a load
Defra already have. It proves the load went in. It is not the key that sends them.
Where the real one is
- Sign in to Defra's Report receipt of waste service with your
organisation's Government Gateway or GOV.UK One Login. A personal sign-in is stopped with
"You cannot continue on this service".
- Registering ends on a page headed Your Defra account. It looks like the finish. It isn't.
- Scroll to Action at the bottom, press Manage, then Manage my API code.
- Press Create additional code. Name it after your software provider, so you know which is which.
Defra advise one code per provider.
- Press Copy next to it, and paste it where your software asks for it.
Not registered at all yet? The ten steps from the start are here, with a tick list.
Keep it private. Anyone holding your API code can send waste records to Defra in
your company's name. Give it to your software provider and nobody else, never post it in a group chat, and
if it has gone somewhere it shouldn't, switch it off in Defra's service with Disable and make a new one.
Straight answers
Questions people ask
What does a Defra API code look like?
36 characters: the letters a to f and the numbers 0 to 9, in five groups of 8, 4, 4, 4 and 12, split by dashes. It is never six digits and it never has spaces in it.
Is the Contact support ID my API code?
No. The number in the yellow Contact support ID box is the reference Defra use when you ring their helpline. The API code is under Action, Manage, Manage my API code on the same account.
Why does my software say the Defra API code is not valid?
Usually one character has been lost or added, or a space has crept in, because the code was typed out or copied from a photo. Copy it with the Copy button in Defra's service and paste it. Defra's own message for a code they do not recognise is "the API Code supplied is invalid".
Do I need a separate API code for each site?
No. One API code covers every site your organisation runs. A second company needs its own Defra registration, its own code and its own £26 service charge.
Can my consultant or software provider get the code for me?
No. The permit holder registers with Defra and creates the code. Once you have it, you can send it to your consultant or your software provider and they can put it in for you.
I have lost my API code. Where do I find it again?
Sign in to Defra's service with your organisation's sign-in, go to Action, Manage, Manage my API code. Your codes are listed there with a Copy button, and you can create an additional one.
Want this done for you at the gate?
Byrne Waste Tracking runs in the browser on a phone at the gate, with nothing to install. It remembers your carriers and their numbers,
offers the waste codes and R or D codes your site uses, checks each load against Defra's rules before
it saves, and sends it to Defra automatically once you've linked your Defra account.
Byrne Digital Solutions is listed on GOV.UK as a compatible software provider.
£89 per site per month, no contract. Join before 1 November 2026 and nothing is due until 1 November; join from 1 November and you get 14 days free. After that it's £89 a month per site, and there's no card to enter until you start it. No setup fee when you set it up yourself. If a consultant introduces you, any setup fee is agreed through them and you see the amount before you pay anything.
A site in Scotland or Northern Ireland that joins before 1 January 2027 pays nothing until 1 January 2027, the day the duty starts there.
Got a waste consultant? Ask them about Byrne first: they can introduce you, your site is set up for
you, and it shows on their Clients screen. How that works.
Already a customer? Open the app. Stuck on something here? Email
wilf@byrnedigitalsolutions.co.uk - email is the quickest
way to reach me, and I reply the same working day.
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