Guide
Digital waste tracking: fines and penalties
Not complying with digital waste tracking is an offence. That covers the deadline, outages, written
records, correcting errors and making accurate records.
What GOV.UK says you could face
- a compliance notice
- an enforcement cost recovery notice
- a fixed monetary penalty of £1,000
- a variable monetary penalty of an unlimited amount
- prosecution and, if convicted, an unlimited fine
The civil penalties and notices are in regulation 19
and the fines on conviction in regulation 18
of the England regulations (SI 2026/729). Regulators keep a public register of convictions and civil sanctions.
How sites stay clear of them
- Every load in, reported within two working days of the day after it arrives - bank holidays don't count.
Due dates, worked out.
- A mistake Defra or your software flags: put it right within the same two working days. One you find yourself: within
one month. Correcting a record.
- If Defra's service is down, there are steps to follow and a written record to keep.
What to do when it's down.
Source: GOV.UK, if you do not comply with the new regulations.
For your own site's position, Defra's helpline is 03000 203 781 (Monday to Friday, 8am to 5pm).
Byrne Waste Tracking records each load at the gate, checks it against Defra's rules before it saves and sends it to
Defra by itself once your Defra account is linked. £89 a site a month, no contract.
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