DEFRA Digital Waste Tracking

Digital Waste Tracking is the government service that records waste movements with DEFRA. Consigns sends your hazardous waste movements to DEFRA for you, and the DEFRA page shows you where each one stands. You will find it in the Compliance part of the menu.

Digital Waste Tracking is included from the Essentials plan upwards.

When a movement is sent

A movement is sent to DEFRA once the receiving site has signed off their part of the consignment note (Part E). You do not press a button each time. Consigns sends it and then tracks the receipt for you.

What the page shows

The DEFRA page sorts your movements into three groups so you always know what, if anything, needs you:

• Needs you - a movement DEFRA did not accept, or one that is now past the time limit. These are the only ones that need action. Open the job, fix what DEFRA flagged, and send it again.
• Waiting to send - movements still inside their time window. There is nothing to do here. They send on their own.
• Sent and accepted - movements DEFRA has accepted. Some of these may carry advisory notes, which are for information only. The receipt is registered either way.

Movements should reach DEFRA within 24 hours of the waste being received. Consigns watches that window for you and only asks you to step in if something is late or was rejected.

Practice mode and live

A label at the top of the page tells you how your movements are being sent:

• Practice mode - movements are sent to DEFRA's test service, not the real register. Use this to try the flow and check your details without it counting. Nothing in practice mode is a real submission.
• Live - movements go to the real DEFRA register and count as your official records.

To send live, your organisation needs its DEFRA API code added in settings. If it is missing, the page tells you and shows where to add it. Until then you will see a "Needs API code" label.

Fixing a movement DEFRA rejected

If DEFRA does not accept a movement, it appears under Needs you with a short note on what to check. You can also open DEFRA's own message for the full detail. Open the job, correct the detail it points to, then use Fix and resend.

Consigns also retries some failures by itself and tells you when the next automatic attempt is due. If a movement has been tried several times and still fails, it asks for a manual fix so it does not keep retrying a problem only you can solve.

Settings and reports

From the DEFRA page you can open Settings to manage your API code and how movements are sent, and EA reports for a fuller view of your compliance over time.

Related help

• Managing jobs - how a job reaches the point where its movement is sent.
• Permits - keep each site inside its permit limits.
• Destinations and receiving sites - the site details DEFRA needs.