What must be on a waste transfer note, and who keeps it for how long

A waste transfer note records each hand-over of non-hazardous waste. Its main details are the waste's description, its EWC code (the six-digit number that says what a waste is), the quantity and how it's held, the time and place, and both parties, with a signature from each. Both businesses keep it for at least two years. That's regulation 35 of the Waste (England and Wales) Regulations 2011.

Both the business handing the waste over and the business taking it keep a copy for at least two years. Paper or electronic is fine. Either of you has to show it to the Environment Agency or the council when they ask.

Where the rule comes from

The note is part of the waste duty of care. That's the legal duty set by section 34 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990. It covers anyone who imports, produces, carries, keeps, treats or disposes of waste. Dealers and brokers who control waste are covered too.

What the note must say is in regulation 35 of the Waste (England and Wales) Regulations 2011. DEFRA (the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) explains it in plainer terms in its duty of care code of practice.

The regulations call the two sides the transferor and the transferee. The transferor is the one handing the waste over, such as the business that produced it. The transferee takes it, which for a collection is usually the carrier. Each of you fills in the parts that apply to you. GOV.UK's advice is to give enough detail for the business taking the waste to handle and dispose of it safely.

What goes on the note

Regulation 35 asks for each of these.

• The waste's code and a description. The regulations call the code a List of Wastes code. It's the same six-digit EWC code, and the code of practice uses both names.
• The quantity of waste.
• How it's held. Whether the waste is loose or in a container, and if it's in a container, what kind.
• The time and place of the transfer.
• Both names and addresses, the transferor's and the transferee's.
• The transferor's SIC code. This is the Standard Industrial Classification code, the number that says what kind of work a business does.
• What each party is. For example a registered carrier or the holder of an environmental permit. Give the permit or registration number where there is one.
• A waste hierarchy statement. The transferor confirms it has taken the steps the law asks of it on the waste hierarchy, covered below.
• Both signatures. On an electronic note these can be electronic signatures.

The code of practice adds that the description should be accurate and carry everything you're reasonably in a position to give. It also tells the business handing waste over to check the carrier holds a valid registration. In England you can do that on the Environment Agency's public register.

The waste hierarchy statement

The waste hierarchy is a ranking of what to do with waste, best first. Regulation 12 of the same regulations puts prevention at the top. Then come preparing for re-use, recycling, and other recovery such as energy recovery, with disposal last. Anyone handing waste over has to take reasonable steps to follow that order. The statement on the note is the transferor's written confirmation that it has.

Other documents and electronic notes

GOV.UK and the code of practice both say a different document can serve as the note, as long as it carries all the information above.

The note can also be electronic, so long as it can be shown in a readable form when someone asks for it. The signatures on it are then electronic too. If you'd rather start from a printed form, our blank waste transfer note template has a box for each item.

Season tickets for regular collections

Some collections repeat, with the same waste going from the same holder with the same carrier. One note can cover all of those for up to a year. This is a season ticket, sometimes called an annual waste transfer note.

If any of those three things changes, you need a new season ticket or a single note for that transfer. Alongside the ticket you keep a running list of each collection's date, time and quantity. It records the site too, where that changes. GOV.UK says to keep the ticket and that list for two years after the last transfer on it.

How long you keep it, and who keeps it

Both parties keep the note, or a copy, for at least two years. That goes for the business handing the waste over and for the carrier or site that takes it. A carrier ends up holding a copy of every note it has signed.

You have to produce the note when an officer from the Environment Agency or your council asks for it. An electronic copy is fine for this.

Hazardous waste moves on a consignment note (the paperwork that travels with every load of hazardous waste). Regulation 35 stands aside where the consignment note rules are followed, and the keeping periods depend on who holds the copy. Our post on hazardous waste consignment notes has the table.

Where Digital Waste Tracking fits

Digital Waste Tracking is DEFRA's online service for recording waste movements. Since October 2026, receiving sites in England and Wales have logged every load they take in on it. Scotland and Northern Ireland follow in January 2027, and carriers, brokers and dealers join in October 2027.

During the move to digital records, the duty of care carries on as it is. That includes the transfer note and its two-year keeping period, so a load collected today still needs its transfer note. Our post on what changed for receiving sites in October 2026 covers the receiving site's side.

Scotland and Northern Ireland

This post follows the rules in England and Wales. Scotland has its own duty of care regulations from 2014, and Northern Ireland has its own from 2013. If your waste moves in either nation, check the guidance from SEPA (the Scottish Environment Protection Agency) or NIEA (the Northern Ireland Environment Agency).

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CarrierNote's free waste transfer note generator takes you through a note one section at a time, with the SIC code and the waste hierarchy statement included, and gives you a PDF with signature lines for both of you. It works on a phone and needs no account. Fill one in at carriernote.co.uk/resources/tools/wtn-generator.

Sources

• Environmental Protection Act 1990, section 34, legislation.gov.uk: the duty of care and who it applies to
• The Waste (England and Wales) Regulations 2011, regulation 35 (SI 2011 No. 988), legislation.gov.uk, revised text: what a transfer note must contain, electronic notes and signatures, both parties keeping it for two years, producing it to an officer, and hazardous waste on a consignment note standing outside it
• The Waste (England and Wales) Regulations 2011, regulation 12, legislation.gov.uk: the waste hierarchy, its order, and the duty to follow it when waste is transferred
• Waste duty of care: code of practice, DEFRA, updated 26 November 2018: the contents of the written description, EWC and List of Wastes as names for the same codes, an accurate description, electronic signatures, other documents serving as the note, season tickets, checking the carrier's registration, and the two-year keeping period
• Waste transfer notes, GOV.UK: enough detail for the next business to handle the waste safely, both parties signing, copies on paper or electronic kept for two years and shown to the Environment Agency or the council, other documents serving as the note, and how season tickets and their list of collections work
• Guidance on applying the waste hierarchy, DEFRA, 2011: the five steps of the waste hierarchy
• The Environmental Protection (Duty of Care) (Scotland) Regulations 2014 (SSI 2014 No. 4), legislation.gov.uk: Scotland's own transfer note rules
• The Controlled Waste and Duty of Care Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2013 (SR 2013 No. 255), legislation.gov.uk: Northern Ireland's own rules
• Digital waste tracking service, DEFRA policy paper: the phase dates for each nation