A vehicle came in today, Thursday 1 October 2026. When must it be on Defra's system?

By the end of Monday 5 October. The regulation sets the deadline at "the end of the second working day after the day on which the load ... is received". Thursday does not count, Friday is the first working day, Saturday and Sunday are not working days, Monday is the second. A load in on Friday 2 October is due by the end of Tuesday 6 October.

Does digital waste tracking start today in Wales as well as England?

Yes. The Digital Waste Tracking (Wales) Regulations 2026, made in Cardiff and agreed by the Senedd, say "These Regulations come into force on 1 October 2026". Natural Resources Wales (Cyfoeth Naturiol Cymru) monitors compliance in Wales. The deadline sentence in regulation 4(9) is the same as England's: the end of the second working day after the day the load is received.

Where does a Welsh yard register and get its API code?

With Defra, at waste-tracking.defra.gov.uk, the same link the Welsh-language GOV.UK guidance "Adrodd ar dderbyn gwastraff" uses. The system is UK-wide and Defra runs it. Natural Resources Wales enforces the Welsh regulations but does not host the service. Welsh yards enter the 8-character EPR number from their NRW permit.

What if I cannot report in time because the system or my connection is down?

Regulation 6 calls that an outage: "circumstances caused by factors beyond the operator of the permitted facility's control". The steps are to notify the regulator (the Environment Agency in England, Natural Resources Wales in Wales), keep a written record within the normal deadline, and enter it within 7 days of the outage ending. Not having registered is not an outage.

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1 October 2026

Deadline day. A load in today is due by the end of Monday. Get your API code.

Q: Where do I get my Defra API code and how long does it take?

Register your organisation at waste-tracking.defra.gov.uk with your company's Government Gateway account. GOV.UK: "Once you have registered your organisation, you will be given a unique API code. Give this code to your software provider." The code is shown in your Defra account once the registration is approved. It is not emailed and it is not instant, so register today.

It is Thursday 1 October 2026. Whatever came through your gate this morning is the first load the law counts. If you are reading this with a tablet in one hand and an API code in the other, you can stop here. If you are reading this with a tablet in one hand and nothing in the other, the rest of the page is for you, and it is short.

Today’s loads are due by the end of Monday

Regulation 4(8) of the Digital Waste Tracking (England) Regulations 2026 sets the clock: "the end of the second working day after the day on which the load of controlled waste or hazardous controlled waste is received". The day the load arrives does not count. Today is Thursday. Friday is the first working day. Saturday and Sunday are not working days, in the regulation’s own words. Monday is the second. A vehicle received today must be on Defra’s system by the end of Monday 5 October. A vehicle received tomorrow has until the end of Tuesday 6 October.

That is two working days, not two days, and it is counted from the day after arrival, not from the arrival. It is also counted from when the load was received, not from when someone got round to it.

The first week’s deadlines, worked from regulation 4(8) of the England regulations and regulation 4(9) of the Wales regulations. No bank holiday falls in this week in either nation.
Load received	On Defra’s system by
Thursday 1 October	End of Monday 5 October
Friday 2 October	End of Tuesday 6 October
Saturday 3 October	End of Tuesday 6 October
Monday 5 October	End of Wednesday 7 October
Tuesday 6 October	End of Thursday 8 October

Get your API code

You cannot enter a receipt without an API code, and the code does not arrive by post. GOV.UK: "The first time you use the service, you will be asked to create a Defra account", then "Once you have registered your organisation, you will be given a unique API code. Give this code to your software provider." The place to do it is waste-tracking.defra.gov.uk, with your company’s Government Gateway account.

The code is shown in your Defra account once the registration is approved. It is not emailed. The approval is not instant. Register this morning and Monday’s deadline is still there to be met. Register on Monday afternoon and it is not. If you have registered and are waiting, the loads still count from the day they arrived, so keep the written record of every one of them ready to enter the moment the code appears.

Wales: today is your day too

Wales did not borrow England’s regulations and it did not get a later date. The Digital Waste Tracking (Wales) Regulations 2026, made in Cardiff and agreed by the Senedd, say "These Regulations come into force on 1 October 2026", and regulation 4(9) carries the same sentence as England’s: "by the end of the second working day after the day on which the load of controlled waste or hazardous controlled waste is received by the operator". A load into a Welsh yard today is due by the end of Monday as well.

What is Welsh is the regulator. Regulation 13: "Natural Resources Wales must monitor compliance with these Regulations". Cyfoeth Naturiol Cymru takes the outage call and holds your permit, and the number you enter as your authorisation is the 8-character EPR number on that NRW permit. What is not Welsh is the system. The registration link is Defra’s, waste-tracking.defra.gov.uk, the same one the Welsh-language guidance Adrodd ar dderbyn gwastraff points at. A Welsh yard registers with Defra and answers to NRW. If you need a person, GOV.WALES gives the helpline, 03000 203 781, and wastetracking@cyfoethnaturiolcymru.gov.uk.

The one door that is still open

Regulation 6 allows for an outage, defined as "circumstances caused by factors beyond the operator of the permitted facility’s control that prevent the entry of the specified information into the digital waste tracking system by the deadline". The three steps are to notify the regulator, keep a written record within the normal deadline, and enter it within 7 days of the outage ending. A yard with no signal is inside that definition. A yard with no registration is not. The regulation is about things beyond your control, and the sign-up page has been there all summer.

What BreakerHQ does today

Paste the code once in Settings. From then on the receipt is built at the gate from the reg, the weight and the carrier, and reported to Defra inside the two working days, with the arrival time the car actually arrived. No signal at the gate is fine: the record is kept on the device and sent when signal returns, which is the written record regulation 6 asks for. A Welsh site sees the same screens and the same deadline, and its NRW permit number is accepted as it is.

The honest limit is the same as last week. We cannot register you with Defra or fetch your code. That is your company’s account and your Government Gateway, and it is the one thing on this page only you can do.

Set up your yard now

Whatever came through your gate this morning has until the end of Monday. Your API code does not have that long.