Loads sent to Defra

Real numbers from the system that sends each load to Defra, counted on 17 October 2026. The numbers are counted by a script, never typed in.

Loads sent to Defra: 487Each one has a Waste Tracking ID from Defra. Since 2 October 2026.
Accepted first time: 98.8%481 of 487 went to Defra on the first try.
Saved to Defra reference: 21 minThe middle time from a load being saved to Defra's reference coming back.
Sites filing: 5Sites with at least one load at Defra. No names: that's their business.

Counted: loads at companies whose Defra account is linked to the live service, that Defra gave a Waste Tracking ID. Demo and practice loads on Defra's test service are left out. "First time" is strict: a load that needed a second try for any reason, including Defra's service being slow, isn't counted. Loads wait about 20 minutes after saving on purpose, so a typo spotted at the gate can be put right before it goes.

Changelog

What changed in the app and on this site in the last 30 days, newest first. App changes marked "coming in the next update" are finished but not on the live app yet.

17 OctA page with the app's results on Defra's own test scenarios, and everything it doesn't do yet.
17 OctWhen Defra's service is down the app says so, keeps your loads, sends them when it's back, and keeps a dated record of the outage you can print under Export. Coming in the next update
17 OctThe Day sheet no longer asks whether to clear a load you've just saved. Coming in the next update
17 OctThe permit check result has a Start free button that carries your permit number into sign-up.
17 OctThe password reset page shows properly again. It had been showing garbled text. Coming in the next update
16 OctWelsh sites type their own site details. The Welsh register's licence doesn't allow it to be copied into the app.
16 OctTwo straight-answer guides: is there free digital waste tracking software, and what being listed on GOV.UK does and doesn't mean.
16 OctTyping a permit number fills in your site from the full Environment Agency register, updated 16 October 2026.
16 OctSign-up asks you to tick that you agree to the Terms and the Data Processing Agreement.
16 OctConsultants have their own sign-up link to give clients.
16 OctAn About page with a 30-second video of the app.
15 OctAn invitation to join a company now needs the link we email, so only the person invited gets in.
15 OctSeven guide pages no longer scroll sideways on a phone.
15 OctGuides for each kind of site (skip hire, scrap metal, composting, landfill and more), a checklist, and a page for consultants.
15 OctAdd site asks which country the site is in when the postcode is near a border.
14 OctEvery load says where it is: waiting, sending, at Defra with its reference, or held, and when it's due.
14 OctBring in loads from a spreadsheet. Every row is checked against Defra's rules before anything is saved.
14 OctSave asks if the same waste code is on a load twice.
14 OctScottish deadlines skip Easter Monday, which isn't a working day there.
14 OctSEPA and Northern Ireland permit numbers are accepted the way they're printed.
12 OctGuides for sites in Scotland and Northern Ireland.
12 OctA page for carriers on what's coming in 2027, with a waiting list.
12 OctThe Defra card asks one question first and shows only the steps that apply to you.
12 OctAdd site asks what kind of site it is and sets the screens up to match.
12 OctEach waste on a load can carry its own R or D code.
12 OctIf your permit is already in the app under your company, you can ask to join it.
12 OctThe Day sheet has a Haulier column for sites that use more than one.
12 OctThe connect guide says plainly that Defra's helpline number isn't your API code.
12 OctThe permit box takes a permit number however it's written, and the Defra code box says what you've pasted if it's the wrong number.
12 OctFind your carrier on the Environment Agency register from the load form.
12 OctNo R or D code is filled in for you without a tap.
12 OctA guide for each question sites keep asking: the API code, carrier numbers, R and D codes, EWC codes, bank holidays and putting a mistake right.
12 OctA quick double tap can't add the same waste to a load twice.
30 SepMobile plant: each load can say which farm it went to, and the date box says to use when it was tipped at the farm.
30 SepA guide to recording spreading at several farms.
29 SepOn a weak signal a load is queued and sent later instead of hanging.
29 SepSign-in problems say what to do next, in plain words.
28 SepA site can keep its whole list of vehicles, offered on every load.

From the founder

I'm Wilf Byrne. I built Byrne Waste Tracking myself, for small permitted sites that take waste in, and I wrote every guide on this site too.

When you email, I read it and I answer it, the same working day. Most of the changes above started as a question from a site, and I'd rather put a problem right in the app than explain it twice.

These numbers come straight from the system, and I'll keep them up to date, good or bad.

Want to see it for yourself? Test results and known limits · Your first load, one box at a time · All guides

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.

Create a free account Log a pretend load first

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.