Free waste transfer note template

Yes. A waste transfer note is the record of who handed waste to whom and what it was, and GOV.UK says you can keep it on paper or electronically.

Digital Waste Tracking, the government’s new online record of waste movements, is arriving in phases. Receiving sites (the transfer stations and other permitted sites that take waste in) in England and Wales started in October 2026, and carriers follow in October 2027. In the first phase paper and digital records run side by side, so a signed paper note is still a proper record of the transfer. Read what changes for carriers in 2027.

The law sets out what a waste transfer note has to carry, and the template has a space for each item:

• The waste's classification code from the List of Wastes (its EWC code)
• A description of the waste, accurate enough for the next person to handle it safely
• How much waste there is
• Whether it is loose or in a container, and if so what kind
• The time and place of the transfer
• The SIC code of the person handing the waste over
• The name and address of the person handing the waste over and the person taking it
• What each of them is acting as, such as producer or registered carrier
• The registration, permit or exemption that allows each of them to act that way
• A statement that the person handing the waste over has applied the waste hierarchy
• The details of any broker or dealer involved, with their registration number
• The signatures of both people

It’s laid out in the same five parts as our online generator, so a note from either reads the same way:

• Part A, waste holder. The person or business handing the waste over.
• Part B, person taking the waste. Usually the waste carrier who collects it.
• Part C, receiving site. Where the waste is going.
• Part D, the waste. What it is, how it is held, and how much.
• Part E, the transfer. Where and when the waste changes hands, and who signs.

1. Fill in a note each time waste changes hands. If the same non-hazardous waste goes from the same holder to the same carrier regularly, one note can cover up to a year of collections. This is called a season ticket. Alongside it you keep a separate record of each collection, with its date, time and quantity, and the place too if it changes. Keep the note and that record for two years after the last collection.
2. The person handing the waste over fills in Part A. That includes their SIC code (the five-digit Standard Industrial Classification code for what their business does) and a tick to confirm they’ve applied the waste hierarchy (the order of preference for dealing with waste: prevent it, reuse it, recycle it, recover it, and only then dispose of it).
3. The person taking the waste, usually the carrier, fills in Part B with their waste carrier registration number.
4. Describe the waste in Part D in words the next person could act on, and add its EWC code (the six-digit European Waste Catalogue number that says what a waste is). The EWC code finder will look it up.
5. Both of you sign Part E, and each of you keeps a copy.

Keep your copy for two years. A paper copy or an electronic one will do.

Hazardous waste needs a hazardous waste consignment note (the form hazardous waste travels with) instead of this template, and the producer keeps those for three years.

Our free waste transfer note generator asks the same questions on your phone or computer and gives you a finished PDF to print and sign.