Connect your own system

You do not have to type jobs into Consigns. Your own software can send each waste movement to us instead. We check it, report it to DEFRA, and send back two things: the DEFRA reference, and the signed waste note as a PDF. Your system files the note against the job. No scanning, no re-typing.

This works for any system that can send a message over the internet: a CRM, a weighbridge, a job platform, even a spreadsheet with a small script.

Before you start

• An owner or admin creates an API key in the app, under Settings then API keys.
• Start with a sandbox key. It works exactly like a real one, but nothing goes to DEFRA.
• When you create the key, choose what we send back: just the DEFRA result, the waste note, or both.
• Before going live, enter your organisation's own DEFRA API code under Settings then DEFRA. DEFRA gives your organisation this code when you register for Digital Waste Tracking. It is how every filing is recorded in your name, against your DEFRA account. Sandbox works without it.

What to send with each movement

Each movement is one message. Here is what goes in it, in plain terms. Your developer will find the exact field names in the technical reference at the bottom of this page.

The movement itself

• Your own job or ticket number. Required. It is also how you look the job up later.
• When the waste was received. Optional. If you leave it out, we use the time the message arrives.
• What made the waste, such as "garage clear-out" or "site strip-out". Required.

Who produced the waste

• Their name or company. Required.
• Their address and postcode. Required.

Who moved it

• The carrier's name. Required.
• Their carrier licence number (it starts CBDU). Required, unless they have an exemption.
• The vehicle registration. Required. This one catches people out, see below.

Where it went

• The receiving site's name, address and permit number. Required.

The waste itself

• The waste code (EWC code). Required.
• The weight, in kilograms. Required.
• Whether it is solid, liquid or sludge. Required.
• The container and how many, using DEFRA's short codes. Required.
• Whether it is hazardous. Always answer this, yes or no. Required.
• A short description of the waste, such as "soil and stones". Required.

Four things that catch people out

• The vehicle registration. Transport counts as "by road" unless you say otherwise, and road transport must have a vehicle registration. Leaving it out is the most common first mistake.
• Say "not hazardous" clearly. If you leave the hazardous answer out, we treat the load as hazardous to be safe, and then extra details are needed.
• Container codes are fixed. DEFRA only accepts its own short codes, like SKI for a skip and DRU for a drum. We publish the full list through the API, so your forms can use it and never get one wrong.
• Weights are in kilograms. Not tonnes, not litres.

Test before you go live

There is a practice endpoint that checks a movement without saving anything. It answers one of three ways: this would file, this would be held because details are missing (and exactly which ones), or this is not a usable message.

Send it a real row from your spreadsheet or CRM. It will tell you what is missing. Fix, send again, and when it says the movement would file, switch to the real endpoint. With a sandbox key the whole flow runs end to end and returns a test DEFRA number (it starts WT-DRY), so nothing reaches DEFRA while you build.

What you get back

• The DEFRA reference for the movement.
• The signed waste note as a PDF link, ready to file against the job. The link works for about an hour, so fetch it when it arrives.
• If details were missing, the exact list of what we still need. The movement is kept safe with the reporting clock running. Nothing incomplete is ever sent to DEFRA.

If something changes later

Send a correction using the same job number. We update the record, DEFRA keeps the original in its history, and a corrected note is issued for your system to file.

For your developer

Give them this page plus the technical reference at consigns.co.uk/dwt-gateway-openapi.yaml. It lists every field, every response and every endpoint. API keys, and what each key is allowed to do, live under Settings then API keys.

Related help

• DEFRA Digital Waste Tracking - how reporting works and what the statuses mean.
• Getting started - set up your company before connecting.
• Permit balancing - keep each site inside its permit limits.