Digital waste tracking for composting sites

Every load of green waste that tips at a permitted composting site is a record for Defra within two working days. It is one of the simplest site types: one code covers most loads.

Who: The operator of a permitted composting site, open windrow or in-vessel.
Code in: 20 02 01, biodegradable garden and park waste, at three in four sites.
R or D: R3, recycling organic substances, which includes composting.
Watch: Open-air standard rules (SR2021 No 2) don't list kitchen and canteen waste, 20 01 08.

Start free Check your permit

What English composting sites took in

Code	What the catalogue calls it	Sites
20 02 01	biodegradable waste (garden and park waste)	75%
02 01 03	plant tissue waste	23%
19 12 12	other wastes (including mixtures of materials) from mechanical treatment of waste other than those mentioned in 19 12 11 (from treating other waste, such as fines)	15%
19 05 03	off-specification compost	13%
20 01 38	wood other than that mentioned on 20 01 37 (from households and businesses)	12%
20 01 08	biodegradable kitchen and canteen waste	12%
02 01 06	animal faeces, urine and manure (including spoiled straw), effluent, collected separately and treated off-site (farm manure and slurry)	12%
02 03 04	materials unsuitable for consumption or processing (fruit, veg, cereals and similar processing)	10%
20 03 01	mixed municipal waste	8%
17 05 04	soil and stones other than those mentioned in 17 05 03	8%

"Sites" is the share of the 173 English composting permits that sent the Environment Agency 2024 waste returns and took that code in at least once EA 2024 Waste Data Interrogator. A code an asterisk follows is hazardous.

Open windrow or in-vessel

SR2021 No 2, composting in open systems, lists 34 codes and 20 01 08 is not one of them. SR2021 No 3, closed systems, lists 55 and does include it. Both name R3, R13. In 2024 returns the tonnes at composting sites went under R3 84%, R13 5%, R5 2%, D14 2%, R10 2% WDI 2024.

An example record, filled in

A made-up council round of garden waste.

Box	What goes in it (made-up load)
Date and time it arrived	15/10/2026 09:30:00 (Thursday)
Your reference	The weighbridge ticket or transfer note number, e.g. T-10482
Your site and permit	Example Compost, windrow site, EX0001XX
Carrier and their number	Example District Council, CBDU123456
How it came	Road
Vehicle registration	AB12 CDE
Waste description	Garden waste: grass, hedge cuttings, branches
EWC code	20 02 01 (typed 200201)
Physical form	Solid
Containers	[LOO] Loose, 0
Weight	9.8 Tonnes, actual
R or D code	R3 for 9.8 tonnes: R3 = 9.8 = Tonnes = No
POPs	No
Hazardous properties	No
Consignment note code	Not needed
Due at Defra by	23:59 on Monday 19 October 2026, two working days after the day it came in

All names and numbers are made up.

Things that catch composting sites out

Spring and autumn. Busy weeks mean a lot of loads. The deadline is per load, so a backlog of Friday loads is due on Tuesday. Bank holiday dates worked out.
Food waste on an open-air permit. 20 01 08 isn't on the SR2021 No 2 list, so it shouldn't be keyed, or tipped.
Compost going out is not your record to make.

Who has to report what

You report what comes in. The duty is on the operator of the permitted site that receives the waste Reg 4(1). One record per load, within two working days of the day after it arrives.
Not what goes out. When a load leaves you for another permitted site, that site reports receiving it. Your outgoing paperwork carries on as before.
Not the producer or the haulier, yet. Carriers, brokers and dealers are planned to come in from October 2027 GOV.UK. What is known about that so far.
Paper carries on. Waste transfer notes, Annex VII forms and hazardous waste consignment notes are still needed where they were before GOV.UK.

Permit or exemption?

This is the question that decides whether you report now.

A permit (numbered like AB1234CD or EPR/AB1234CD) for a site that receives waste: you are in phase 1, from 1 October 2026 in England and Wales. In Scotland and Northern Ireland the date is 1 January 2027.
Only a registered exemption (a WEX number): not phase 1. GOV.UK say exemptions "will be included in a later phase" and have not given a date GOV.UK. How to tell which you hold.

Not sure? The free permit check looks your site up on the Environment Agency's register.

Straight answers

Questions people ask

Do composting sites need digital waste tracking?

A permitted composting site that receives waste does: from 1 October 2026 in England and Wales every load it receives is reported to Defra within two working days.

What EWC code is green waste?

20 02 01, biodegradable waste from gardens and parks. Plant tissue waste from farms and horticulture is 02 01 03.

What R code is composting?

R3, recycling of organic substances, which includes composting. R13 if you only store waste before it is treated.

Can an open windrow site take food waste?

Not kitchen and canteen waste under the open-system standard rules, SR2021 No 2: 20 01 08 is not on its list. The closed-system standard rules, SR2021 No 3, do list it.

Want this done for you at the gate?

Byrne Waste Tracking runs in the browser on a phone or computer, 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 first, 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.

Start free Log a pretend load first

Got a waste consultant? Ask them about Byrne first. Stuck on something here? Email wilf@byrnedigitalsolutions.co.uk - email is the quickest way to reach me, and I reply the same working day.

Digital waste tracking for anaerobic digestion and biogas plantsManure, food and drinks waste codes, R3, and what the on-farm standard rules permit allows.
Digital waste tracking for waste wood recycling sitesThe wood codes and their hazardous twins, R3 or R13, and what SR2022 No 8 allows.
Which R or D code am I? Recovery and disposal codes by type of siteR13, R12, R5, R4, R3, R10, D15 and D1 by type of site, and where your permit already lists yours.
Bank holidays and the two working days: every due date worked outChristmas, New Year, Easter and every 2027 bank holiday, worked out for each nation.
Every guideAll the questions customers ask, one page each.