Guides › R and D codes
Part A · What happens to the load at your site
- For
- Sites receiving waste
- Covers
- R1 to R13, D1 to D15
- Checked
- 12 OCTOBER 2026
Which R or D code am I? Recovery and disposal codes by type of site
Every load you report to Defra needs a recovery (R) or disposal (D) code. It describes what your site does with that load, not what the producer did. Your permit already lists the ones you're allowed.
- Start
- Your environmental permit. The table of permitted activities, often near the front, names the R and D codes your site may carry out.
- Rule
- The code on each load must be one your permit allows, and it describes what you do with that load.
- Most yards
- Store and send on: R13 (for recovery) or D15 (for disposal). Sort or crush first: R12 or R5.
- Format
- On Defra's spreadsheet each code carries its weight, like R13 = 4.2 = Tonnes = No. Software does this for you.
The mistake people make most
Using the code for what will happen to the waste in the end, at somebody else's site. If a load of
road sweepings comes in, sits in a bay and goes on to a recycler, your site stored it: that is R13, even
though it will be recycled later. The recycler puts R5 on it when it reaches them.
The second most common: one code set for the whole site and never changed, when some loads go on for
recovery and some for disposal. Each load gets the code that is true for that load.
All thirty codes, in plain English
Recovery: R1 used as fuel · R2 solvent reclamation · R3 recycling organic
substances (composting, digestion) · R4 recycling metals · R5 recycling other
inorganic materials (aggregates, soil, glass) · R6 regenerating acids or bases · R7
recovering pollution abatement components · R8 recovering catalyst components · R9
oil re-refining · R10 land treatment benefiting agriculture · R11 using wastes from
R1 to R10 · R12 exchange of wastes, including sorting and pre-processing, before R1 to R11
· R13 storage before R1 to R12. Annex II
Disposal: D1 deposit into or onto land · D2 land treatment · D3 deep
injection · D4 surface impoundment · D5 specially engineered landfill ·
D6 release into water · D7 release into seas · D8 biological treatment
· D9 physico-chemical treatment · D10 incineration on land · D11
incineration at sea · D12 permanent storage · D13 blending or mixing before D1 to
D12 · D14 repackaging before D1 to D13 · D15 storage before D1 to D14.
Annex I
Straight answers
Questions people ask
What does R13 mean on a waste record?
Storage of waste before it goes on to be recovered somewhere, by you later or by another site. Most skip hire yards and transfer stations that store waste and send it on use R13.
What is the difference between R13 and D15?
Both mean you stored the waste. R13 is storage before recovery, such as recycling. D15 is storage before disposal, such as landfill. Use the one that is true for where that load is going next.
Where do I find which R and D codes my site is allowed?
In your environmental permit, in the table of permitted activities. The code on each load must be one your permit allows.
Which R code for crushing concrete and brick into aggregate?
Usually R5, recycling of other inorganic materials. If you only store the material before sending it on, it is R13.
Which R code for landspreading?
R10, land treatment resulting in benefit to agriculture or ecological improvement.
Which code for composting or an AD plant?
Usually R3, recycling of organic substances, which covers composting and other biological processes such as anaerobic digestion. Check your permit.
Can one load have more than one R or D code?
Yes. A load can carry more than one, each with its own weight, if part of it is recovered and part disposed of. Each waste item carries the code that is true for it.
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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