Guides › Bank holidays
Part A · When each load is due
- Rule
- 2 working days
- Covers
- Now to Dec 2027
- Checked
- 12 OCTOBER 2026
Bank holidays and the two working days: every due date worked out
Each load has to reach Defra within two working days, counting from the day after it arrives. Weekends and bank holidays don't count, and the nations have different bank holidays. Here is every date that moves.
- The rule
- Two working days, starting the day after the load arrives. Due by 23:59 on the second working day.
- Example
- In on Monday, due by 23:59 on Wednesday. In on Friday, due by 23:59 on Tuesday.
- Not counted
- Saturdays, Sundays and bank holidays in your nation. In Scotland, SEPA say Easter Monday doesn't count either.
- Scotland and NI
- The duty starts on 1 January 2027, so their columns start then.
Christmas and New Year
The dates below are the last day each load can reach Defra, by 23:59. Wales follows the England and Wales
bank holidays. "Not yet" means the duty has not started in that nation on that date.
Every other bank holiday to the end of 2027
Only the days where a bank holiday moves the due date are listed. Any day not here is the ordinary rule:
two working days, weekends skipped.
Christmas 2027
Things that catch people out
- Open on a bank holiday? A load you take in on a bank holiday counts from the next day, like any
other. The bank holiday itself is not a working day for the count.
- Running late? A late load is still reported. Send it as soon as you can, with its real date of
arrival. Never change the date to make it look on time.
- Defra's service down? GOV.UK say: make a written record within the same two working days and
send it in within 7 working days of the service coming back.
- Piped waste has its own rule. The two days start after the last load, or for continuous piping,
after the end of the quarter on the note or when piping stops.
The general explanation of the deadline is on the two-working-day deadline page.
Straight answers
Questions people ask
When is digital waste tracking due over Christmas 2026?
In England and Wales, a load received on Thursday 24 December 2026 is due by 23:59 on Wednesday 30 December, because Christmas Day and the Boxing Day substitute on Monday 28 December are bank holidays. Scotland and Northern Ireland start on 1 January 2027.
Do bank holidays count as working days for waste tracking?
No. GOV.UK say records must be submitted within 2 working days, excluding weekends and bank holidays, starting the day after you receive the waste.
Which bank holidays apply to my site?
The ones for the nation your site is in. Wales uses the England and Wales bank holidays. Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own, and in Scotland SEPA also say Easter Monday does not count.
A load came in on a Saturday. When is it due?
By 23:59 on Tuesday, if there is no bank holiday: Monday and Tuesday are the two working days.
What if I miss the two working days?
Report it as soon as you can, with the real date it arrived. A late record is better than none, and the date must never be changed to look on time.
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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