Guides › Scotland and Northern Ireland › Scotland
Scotland · January 2027
- Starts
- 1 JANUARY 2027
- Law
- SSI 2026/145
- Regulator
- SEPA
- Checked
- 17 OCTOBER 2026
Scotland: what a permitted site needs before 1 January 2027
From 1 January 2027 every load of controlled waste a permitted site in Scotland receives needs a digital record on Defra's service by the end of the second working day after it arrives. England and Wales started on 1 October 2026 on the same service. Here is what is the same, what is different, and the source for each line.
- Starts
- 1 January 2027 reg 1
- Who
- The operator authorised by permit under the Environmental Authorisations (Scotland) Regulations 2018 to carry on a waste activity at a site that receives controlled waste reg 2 reg 4
- Deadline
- The end of the second working day after the day the load arrives. Saturdays, Sundays, Easter Monday and Scottish bank holidays don't count reg 2
- How
- Defra's Report receipt of waste service, through software or Defra's own spreadsheet SEPA
Is your site in?
The duty falls on the person authorised by permit under the 2018 Regulations (EASR) to carry on a waste
activity at a permitted facility, and it applies to each load of controlled waste the facility receives
reg 2 reg 4. SEPA give transfer stations, scrap yards,
landfills, energy-from-waste facilities and composting sites as examples SEPA.
Waste management licences became EASR permits on 1 November 2025 and kept their old numbers, so a site with a
WML number is a permit-level site SEPA, EASR.
Not sure which level you hold? It is printed against your number on
SEPA's public register.
Your permit number, the way Defra's service takes it
Every load carries the site's authorisation number. Defra publish the Scottish formats their service accepts
Defra format list. In these, 9 stands for any digit.
EASR permits with seven digits. SEPA's register prints EASR permits issued since November 2025
with seven digits after EAS/P/, for example EAS/P/6101117
SEPA register. Defra's published format is
EAS/P/ and six digits
Defra format list. If your permit starts EAS/P/, ring the Defra helpline on
03000 203 781 before 1 January and ask how to enter it, so your first loads aren't refused.
The other Scottish numbers on a load
- Carrier registration numbers from SEPA: WCR/R/1234567, and older ones like SCO/123456,
SEA/123456, SNO/123456, SWE/123456 or WCR/123456 Defra format list. SEPA's newer
registrations look like EAS/R/1234567. Defra's service doesn't accept those yet, and Defra say a fix is coming
Defra, 15 Oct 2026. Byrne Waste
Tracking saves them, says so, and sends the load again until Defra take it.
Carrier numbers, nation by nation.
- A hazardous load needs the code of the special waste consignment note that came with it, or the reason there
isn't one SEPA. In Scotland the code is SA, SB or SC and seven digits, for example SB1234567
(Defra's API specification).
- Everything else on the record is the same list as England: waste codes with weights, R or D codes, containers,
physical form, transport and vehicle registration SEPA: submitting your data.
Scottish working days, worked out for January
A working day is any day that is not a Saturday, a Sunday, Easter Monday or a bank holiday in Scotland
reg 2. Scotland's bank holidays include 2 January and St Andrew's Day, and its summer
holiday is the first Monday in August GOV.UK bank holidays. Easter Monday is not a Scottish bank
holiday, but the regulations still leave it out, so it doesn't count either.
Worked from the definition in reg 2 and GOV.UK's Scotland list. Every nation's dates.
The £26
The fee is £26 reg 5(1). In Scotland's regulations it is paid to the Scottish
Ministers, who run the system there, the first time the duty arises and then on each anniversary
reg 3 reg 5(2). SEPA describe it as an upfront charge covering
12 months SEPA. GOV.UK say the £26 is per organisation, covers all of its sites, and the first
payment is due by 31 January 2027 GOV.UK.
If your organisation has sites in England or Wales as well as Scotland, GOV.UK don't say whether one payment
covers both. Ask the Defra helpline. A digitally excluded operator doesn't pay it SEPA.
What to do before 1 January
- Check your authorisation is permit level on SEPA's register, and note the number exactly as printed.
- Register your organisation on Defra's service with your
organisation's Government Gateway or GOV.UK One Login, never a personal one GOV.UK. Each
organisation is registered separately. The service is open for voluntary use now SEPA.
- Copy your organisation's API code if you'll use software. One code covers every site the organisation runs
GOV.UK. Which number it is.
- Gather your carriers' SEPA registration numbers, your usual waste codes and your R or D codes.
EWC codes · R and D codes.
- Practise a few loads before January, so the first week isn't the first time.
When something goes wrong
- A mistake you find later: correct it within one month of becoming aware of it reg 7.
An error flagged when you submit is fixed inside the same two working days SEPA.
How a correction works.
- The service is down: unless Defra have sent an outage notice, tell SEPA at
digitalwastetracking@sepa.org.uk, make a written record within the two working days, and enter it within 7 days
of the service coming back reg 6 SEPA.
- Penalties: breaching the duty is an offence punishable by a fine, and SEPA can issue compliance notices
and recover their enforcement costs reg 17 reg 18.
- Paper: the regulations don't immediately remove or change the existing duty of care or other waste
reporting, so your transfer notes and consignment notes carry on alongside SEPA.
Start free, set it up yourself
Byrne Waste Tracking runs in the browser on a phone at the gate, with nothing to install. You log each load,
it checks it against Defra's rules first, and it sends it to Defra automatically once you've linked your Defra
account. It works out each load's due date with Scotland's own bank holidays.
Byrne Digital Solutions is listed on GOV.UK as a compatible software provider.
Creating an account is free, and you can log a pretend load first without one. £89 per site per month,
no contract, and no setup fee when you set it up yourself. A Scottish site that joins before 1 January 2027 pays nothing until
1 January 2027, the day the duty starts there.
Stuck on something here? Email wilf@byrnedigitalsolutions.co.uk. Email is the quickest way to
reach me, I reply the same working day.
For consultants and TCMs with clients in Scotland
If you are the technically competent person, or the consultant, for several permitted sites in Scotland,
your clients' duty starts in January and they will ask you what to do. The steps above are the answer for each
site, and each site registers its own organisation with Defra.
If you'd like to introduce clients, it works the same as in England: free to join, your client pays me
direct, and each consultancy chooses its own setup fee. How the consultant scheme works.
Email me how many Scotland sites you look after and which SEPA permits or licences they hold, and
I'll come back to you: wilf@byrnedigitalsolutions.co.uk.
Straight answers
Questions people ask
When does digital waste tracking start in Scotland?
1 January 2027, when the Digital Waste Tracking (Scotland) Regulations 2026 (SSI 2026/145) come into force.
Who has to do it in Scotland?
The operator authorised by permit under the Environmental Authorisations (Scotland) Regulations 2018 to carry on a waste activity at a site that receives controlled waste. Former exemptions and registration-level authorisations are not in phase 1, SEPA say.
How long do I have to record a load in Scotland?
Until the end of the second working day after the day it arrives. Saturdays, Sundays, Easter Monday and Scottish bank holidays are not working days.
Does Easter Monday count as a working day in Scotland?
No. Easter Monday is not a Scottish bank holiday, but the Scottish regulations leave it out of working days anyway, and SEPA say the same.
Which Scottish permit numbers does Defra's service accept?
Defra list WML/L/9999999 (also W, E or N, with or without a /99 suffix), WML/L/SEPA9999-9999, PPC/A/9999999 (also W, E or N), PPC/A/SEPA9999-9999 and EAS/P/999999. If your EASR permit has seven digits after EAS/P/, ask the Defra helpline how to enter it before 1 January.
Who do I pay the £26 to in Scotland?
The Scottish regulations make the £26 payable to the Scottish Ministers the first time the duty arises, then every year. GOV.UK say it is per organisation, covers all its sites, and the first payment is due by 31 January 2027.
Are council recycling centres in Scotland included?
No. The duty does not apply to a place a council provides as a waste disposal authority under section 53(1)(a) of the Environmental Protection Act 1990.
Can a consultant set this up for several Scottish sites?
Each site's organisation registers with Defra itself. A consultant can introduce clients to Byrne Waste Tracking the same way as in England: free to join, and each consultancy chooses its own setup fee.
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