The carrier's number isn't on your paperwork. Here's where to find it.

Every load you report to Defra needs the waste carrier's registration number. It is often missing from the ticket. It is free to look up, and you only have to do it once per carrier.

Where: The Environment Agency public register of waste carriers, brokers and dealers. Free, no account needed.
Search: The haulier's name as it is on the lorry or the invoice, or their postcode.
Looks like: England: CBDU or CBDL followed by numbers. CBDU is upper tier, CBDL lower tier.
Elsewhere: Wales: Natural Resources Wales register. Scotland: SEPA. Northern Ireland: DAERA.

Five minutes, once per carrier

Open the waste carriers, brokers and dealers register (GOV.UK also links to it from Find a registered waste carrier).
Type the haulier's business name. If nothing comes up, try fewer words, or their postcode.
Pick the one at the right address. Check it shows as registered and has not expired.
Copy the registration number exactly, for example CBDU123456.
Save it against that carrier in your software, so next time you only type their name.

The same carrier coming in every day? You do this once. In Byrne Waste Tracking, typing the carrier's name on the next load fills their number in, and their lorries too.

The formats Defra accept

Registered in	Looks like
England (Environment Agency)	CBDU or CBDL and at least three digits
Wales (Natural Resources Wales)	WCR/R/ and seven digits
Scotland (SEPA)	Letters for the SEPA office or WCR, a slash, and six digits
Northern Ireland (NIEA)	ROC UT or ROC LT and digits

An old-style number like CB/AB1234CD printed on an old certificate is refused. Look the company up on the register and use the CBDU number it shows now.

When there genuinely is no carrier number

Some loads have no registered carrier, and that is allowed, but you give the reason instead of a number. Defra's service offers four:

Produced on site - the waste arose on your own site and was not carried in.
Householder - a householder bringing their own household waste.
One-off - a one-off movement by someone exempt from registering.
Marine - the waste came from a marine source.

Pick the one that is true. Never put a made-up or borrowed number in: it is a statutory record. If a regular haulier is not on any register, that is worth raising with them before the next load, because carrying other people's waste without registering is their offence, and taking it in is your risk.

Straight answers

Questions people ask

How do I check a waste carrier's licence for free?

Search the Environment Agency's public register of waste carriers, brokers and dealers by the business name or postcode. It is free and needs no account. In Wales use the Natural Resources Wales register, in Scotland SEPA's, and in Northern Ireland DAERA's.

What is a CBDU number?

The registration number of an upper tier waste carrier, broker or dealer registered with the Environment Agency in England: CBDU followed by numbers. Lower tier registrations start CBDL.

The carrier's number isn't on the weighbridge ticket. What do I put?

Look the haulier up on the public register by name or postcode and use the number it shows. Save it against that carrier so you only do it once. Do not leave it blank and do not guess.

Does Defra accept an old CB/ style carrier number?

No. The old CB/ style is refused. Look the company up on the register and use the current CBDU number.

What if the waste has no carrier at all?

Give the reason instead of a number. Defra's service offers four: produced on site, a householder's own household waste, a one-off exempt movement, or a marine source. Pick the one that is true.

Do I need the vehicle registration as well?

Yes, for waste that arrives by road Defra ask for the vehicle registration as well as the carrier's number.

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.

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EWC codes for your type of site, in plain EnglishThe waste codes each kind of site uses most, and how to spot a hazardous one.
Every guideAll the questions customers ask, one page each.