♻ Waste Receipt Tracker
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How to get your DEFRA API code & credentials

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What you need before this system can submit to DEFRA

To report waste receipts to the Digital Waste Tracking Service, your company record in this system (set up by your administrator under Companies) needs three things from DEFRA:

  • API code - a unique identifier (UUID) for your receiving organisation, e.g. 1f83215e-4b90-4785-9ab2-2614839aa2e9
  • OAuth client ID - identifies your software connection
  • OAuth client secret - the password for that connection (stored encrypted by this system)

Digital waste tracking becomes mandatory for operators of permitted or licensed waste receiving sites from October 2026, so it is worth registering early.

DEFRA's receipt of waste process

This is DEFRA's own blueprint for phase 1 (receipt of waste). The waste is arranged and collected exactly as today, using consignment or waste transfer notes - the digital record is created when the waste arrives at the receiving site, which is the part this system does for you (the "DWT Data" and "DWT Service" lanes at the bottom).

DEFRA REC2A receipt of waste process flow diagram: broker/dealer, carrier, producer, driver and receiver swim-lanes leading to a digital record submitted to the Digital Waste Tracking service at the point of receipt

Diagram: DEFRA Digital Waste Tracking Service developer documentation (defra/waste-tracking-service), reproduced under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Click to open full size.

Step-by-step registration

DEFRA's own onboarding overview, then each step in detail below:

DEFRA API software developer onboarding steps: register, receive test credentials, build and test, complete production approval tests, receive production credentials and API codes

Diagram: DEFRA developer documentation, Open Government Licence v3.0.

  1. Read the API Terms of Service
    DEFRA asks you to read and acknowledge the API Terms of Service as part of registration.
  2. Register with the DEFRA waste tracking team
    Complete DEFRA's online registration form. If you have any difficulty, email the team at wasteuserresearch@defra.gov.uk.
  3. Receive your test credentials
    The Digital Waste Tracking (DWT) team sends a client ID and client secret by encrypted email. These work against DEFRA's test (integration) environment.
  4. Enter the credentials in this system
    Your administrator opens Companies → Edit, selects the Test environment and saves the client ID and secret. For the API code, testing uses one of DEFRA's published dummy test API codes - any code from that list works in the test environment.
  5. Practise in the test environment
    Enter and submit some waste receipts. Successful submissions return a waste tracking ID. Also run Reference Data → Sync from DEFRA so the system holds the full, current EWC, container and POP code lists.
  6. Complete DEFRA's production approval tests (PAT)
    DEFRA publishes a set of approval test scenarios. Submit the required movements in the test environment and send DEFRA the waste tracking IDs for each scenario (from each receipt's page in this system). The DWT team reviews them and confirms acceptance.
  7. Receive production credentials and your real API code
    After approval, DEFRA issues production client credentials, and each registered waste receiver gets its own unique production API code by email.
  8. Go live
    Your administrator switches the company to the Production environment and enters the production credentials and API code. From then on, submissions form part of the official waste tracking record.

Contacts & further reading

Note: DEFRA's registration process is described here as published in their developer documentation - the exact forms and steps are owned by DEFRA and may change.