Glossary

These definitions introduce common terms. Requirements vary by UK nation. For the underlying guidance, see waste transfer notes and season tickets, hazardous waste consignment notes, and DEFRA’s receipt reporting service.

Waste Transfer Note (WTN)

A legal record required under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 and the Waste (England and Wales) Regulations 2011 whenever non-hazardous waste changes hands, between a producer, a carrier, and a receiving site. It records what the waste is, how much, who held it, and what happens to it next. Businesses must keep copies for at least two years.

Hazardous Waste Consignment Note (HWCN)

The equivalent record to a WTN, but for hazardous waste, required under the Hazardous Waste (England and Wales) Regulations 2005. It has five parts (A to E) completed by different parties in the chain, producer, carrier, consignee, and captures extra detail a standard WTN doesn't need, including hazard codes and a consignment code.

Season ticket

A single transfer note that covers multiple collections of the same waste, between the same parties, over a period of up to one year, rather than filing a fresh note for every visit. Set up once; each actual collection is then logged against it.

EWC code (European Waste Catalogue)

A six-digit code classifying what a waste actually is, drawn from a catalogue of around 800 codes across 20 chapters. Required on every transfer note. See the EWC code lookup for the codes most relevant to skip hire and construction waste.

Recovery/disposal code (R/D code)

A separate code from the EWC code, describing what happens to the waste once it's dealt with: a recovery (R) code such as recycling, or a disposal (D) code such as landfill. UK law requires recovery to be used over disposal wherever reasonably practicable. See the recovery and disposal code lookup for the full list.

Duty of care

The legal obligation under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 on anyone who produces, carries, keeps, treats or disposes of waste to handle it safely and legally at every step, including using a properly registered carrier and keeping accurate transfer records.

Digital Waste Tracking (DWT)

DEFRA's programme to move UK waste-tracking records from paper to a central digital system, in two separate phases with different scope and dates. See Phase 1 vs Phase 2, explained.

Production Approval Test (PAT)

The fixed set of scenarios DEFRA requires every software provider to pass, run against DEFRA's real test sandbox, before granting access to submit live data. See Checkwright's own PAT results.

Receiving authorisation / API code

Two different identifiers: the receiving authorisation number identifies a site’s environmental permit or waste management licence; the API code identifies the organisation in DEFRA’s reporting service and can cover multiple sites. Both need to be configured correctly for submissions.