Consignment note code is not in a valid format
The code on the hazardous waste consignment note must match one of three formats: one shared by the Environment Agency and Natural Resources Wales, one for SEPA and one for the Northern Ireland Environment Agency. The code on the receipt matched none of them.
The message DEFRA sends
"hazardousWasteConsignmentCode" must be in one of the valid formats: EA/NRW (2 or more alphanumeric characters followed by / and 5-6 alphanumeric characters, e.g. CJTILE/A0001), SEPA (SA|SB|SC followed by 7 digits), or NIEA (DA|DB|DC followed by 7 digits)
The usual cause
- A space or other character in the code, or the slash missing from an Environment Agency or NRW code.
- The code was copied from another field on the note.
- A code with the wrong number of digits.
How to fix it
- Copy the code from the top of the consignment note exactly as printed.
- Check it against the three patterns below.
Fix the value in your software or spreadsheet, then send the receipt again.
The patterns the validator accepts
- EA and NRW: two or more letters or digits, a slash, then five letters or digits and an optional letter at the end, for example CJTILE/A0001.
- SEPA: SA, SB or SC followed by seven digits.
- NIEA: DA, DB or DC followed by seven digits.
Sources
- DEFRA waste-movement-utils on GitHub: the shared validator code that DEFRA's receipt services pin, published under the Open Government Licence
- DEFRA waste-tracking-service on GitHub: the Receipt API specification
The message wording and the formats listed come from DEFRA's validator code, version 1.18.0, published under the Open Government Licence v3.0. The causes and fixes are our reading of its rules.
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CarrierNote is on the GOV.UK software provider list, connected to DEFRA's Digital Waste Tracking service. Receiving sites are in scope from October 2026 and carriers from October 2027, and you can be recording to DEFRA's standard from your first load, whenever you start.