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How to check a waste carrier is registered, and what to do if they're not

9 November 2026 · CarrierNote

You check a waste carrier on the regulator's public register, which is free and open to anyone. In England that's the Environment Agency's register, and in Wales it's the one kept by Natural Resources Wales. You can search by the business's name, its postcode or its registration number. A carrier taking other people's waste needs an upper-tier registration that hasn't expired, so those are the two things to look at on the entry.

If the carrier isn't on the register, or the registration has run out, don't hand the waste over. The duty of care code of practice from DEFRA (the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) says to report your suspicions to the Environment Agency or Natural Resources Wales. You can also tell Crimestoppers, without giving your name.

Who has to be registered

Any business that transports waste as a carrier has to register. So does a broker (who arranges for someone else's waste to be moved or dealt with) and a dealer (who buys and sells waste). In England and Wales, carrying controlled waste for a business without being registered is an offence under the Control of Pollution (Amendment) Act 1989. Controlled waste is the law's term for household, industrial and commercial waste.

There are two tiers. An upper-tier registration lets a business carry other people's waste, so a skip company needs one. It lasts three years and then has to be renewed. A lower-tier registration is mainly for charities and for businesses carrying their own waste, and it never needs renewing. A business carrying its own construction or demolition waste needs the upper tier.

Checking matters to you because of the duty of care, the legal duty on everyone who handles waste to pass it only to someone allowed to take it. Our post on the duty of care sets out what it asks of each business in the chain.

How to search the register

In England, go to the Environment Agency's public register of waste carriers, brokers and dealers. Type in one of the business name, the registration number or a postcode, and you can tick upper tier, lower tier or both. If you'd rather ask a person, the Environment Agency's number is 03708 506 506.

In Wales, use the Natural Resources Wales public register, which covers waste carriers, brokers and dealers based in Wales.

A carrier registered in Wales or Scotland is allowed to work in England too, so search the register of the nation where the carrier is registered. If you have the registration number, search with that. The code of practice says an upper-tier carrier's number in England starts with CBDU, followed by digits.

What to look at on the entry

Each entry on the Environment Agency's register shows the holder's name and address, the tier, and what the business is registered as (carrier, broker, dealer, or a mix). It also shows the date the registration started and the date it expires.

Check four things. The name and address should match the business in front of you, and the tier should be upper if they're taking your waste. The expiry date should be in the future. And if they're acting as a broker or dealer for you, the entry should say so.

The code of practice suggests asking for a copy of the carrier's registration, or taking a photo of it, and keeping a note of the checks you made. That note is your evidence that you met your duty of care if anything goes wrong later. A carrier also has to show proof of registration when a police officer or an officer from the regulator asks for it, and failing to do so without a good reason is an offence.

If the carrier isn't registered

The code of practice says not to give your waste to them, and to report what you suspect. In England there are two ways to do that.

  • The Environment Agency's incident hotline is 0800 80 70 60, and it's open 24 hours a day.
  • Crimestoppers takes reports about illegal waste activity on 0800 555 111, and doesn't ask for your name.

In Wales, report it to Natural Resources Wales. If the entry exists but has expired, ask the carrier about it, and keep the waste back until the register shows a current registration.

Checks at the gate, for receiving sites

A receiving site has checks to make as well. The code says the business receiving waste must check that the previous holder met their duty of care. For a receiving site, that includes the carrier who drives onto the weighbridge.

Digital Waste Tracking is DEFRA's online service for recording waste movements, and receiving sites in England and Wales have used it since October 2026. Each receipt you send it (the record of one load coming in) names the carrier and their registration number. A receipt without that number is rejected unless it gives a reason why the carrier doesn't have one. Our post on what changes for receiving sites covers the rest of the receipt.

Householders should check too

The same check applies to anyone clearing out a home. The code says a householder should make sure a carrier holds a valid upper-tier registration before handing waste over, and that includes a business that knocks on the door offering to take it away. A householder doesn't have to keep a record of the check, but the code suggests noting the registration number.

Scotland and Northern Ireland

Scotland and Northern Ireland keep their own registers. In Scotland it's SEPA (the Scottish Environment Protection Agency). Scotland moved carriers onto new authorisations under its own rules, and SEPA's public register page links to the search. Older registrations that are still active can be found under their old numbers. In Northern Ireland, it's NIEA (the Northern Ireland Environment Agency, part of DAERA, the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs), which publishes its public register of carriers.

What's changing in England

In England, carrier, broker and dealer registrations are moving onto environmental permits (the licence the regulator issues for a waste activity). The regulations were made in 2026 and apply in England only. An upper-tier carrier moves over when its current registration is due to expire. Today every registration is still on the register above, and our count of registered waste carriers by area shows how many upper-tier registrations it holds in each English region.

CarrierNote keeps the hauliers you work with in an address book. When you add one, you can search the Environment Agency's register from the form, and picking a match fills in their name, address and registration number. Each saved haulier then shows what the register said about them: verified, expiring soon, expired, lower tier or not on the register. See how capture works at carriernote.co.uk/product.

Sources

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