What a waste transfer note is, and why you keep it
The short answer
What it is
A waste transfer note is the receipt for a handover of waste. It records what the waste was, how much of it there was, when and where it changed hands, and who the two parties were.
It exists because the duty of care in section 34 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 needs something to bite on. Waste passes through several pairs of hands between a driveway and a transfer station, and without a written record there is no way to establish where a chain broke.
Whether you need one
This is the part most guides get muddled, so here it is plainly.
Clearing your own home: no. Occupiers of domestic property are exempt from the transfer note requirement for their own household waste. Defra’s guidance on penalties says so directly: there is no duty on an individual to keep a waste transfer note or any other written record. Your duty is the simplified one in section 34(2A), which is to check that whoever takes it away is authorised to.
A landlord clearing a let property: yes. Waste from a property you own but do not live in is business waste, even when it is a departed tenant’s furniture. The full duty applies and that includes a written note.
An executor clearing an estate: usually yes. If the clearance is being carried out as part of administering the estate rather than by a family member clearing their own home, it is being done in the course of a business and the full duty applies. If you are unsure, ask the firm for a note anyway. A firm that cannot produce one is telling you something.
A business of any kind: yes.
Even where you do not need one, asking for one is the cheapest evidence you will ever get that you did check. It costs you nothing and it takes the firm about a minute.
What a valid note contains
The code of practice sets out what has to be on it:
- A description of the waste, classified with the appropriate List of Wastes code
- The quantity, the nature of it, and whether it is loose or containerised
- The time and place of the transfer
- The transferor’s Standard Industrial Classification code
- The names and addresses of both parties, and both signatures
- The capacity each party is acting in, and their relevant authorisation
That last line is the one worth reading. “Their relevant authorisation” means the carrier’s registration number should be on the note. If it is, you have the number without having to ask for it, and you can check it in about ten seconds.
There is also a season ticket, which is one note covering a series of transfers of the same non-hazardous waste with the same carrier, for up to a year. Useful for a landlord with several properties and a regular contractor. Not relevant to a one-off clearance.
How long to keep it
| Record | Keep for |
|---|---|
| Waste transfer note, non-hazardous | 2 years |
| Hazardous waste consignment note | 3 years |
| Non-hazardous, if you are a landfill operator | 6 years |
| Hazardous, if you are a landfill operator | the lifetime of the permit |
For a landlord or an executor, two years is the number that matters.
What changes in October 2026
Paper is on its way out. The Digital Waste Tracking (England) Regulations 2026 were made as SI 2026/729 and commence on 1 October 2026.
The rollout is in phases, and the first one does not touch you:
| From | Who has to use it |
|---|---|
| October 2026 | Permitted sites that receive waste: transfer stations, recycling centres, landfill. England, Wales and Northern Ireland |
| January 2027 | The same, in Scotland |
| October 2027 | Waste carriers, brokers and dealers |
A permitted site receiving waste has to record it digitally within two working days of taking it. Sites run by a waste disposal authority to receive household waste, which is to say your local tip, are outside phase 1.
Two things follow for anybody reading this now.
If you are a householder, nothing changes. You have no paperwork duty today and you will have none in October. The service is aimed at the businesses in the chain, not at you.
If you run a clearance firm, phase 2 lands in October 2027 and it is worth knowing that the service carries an annual charge of £26. Paper transfer notes and consignment notes continue alongside the digital record through the transition rather than being switched off, so the first effect is more recording, not less.
The reason any of this matters to a householder at all is what it is for. The system exists to make waste traceable end to end, which makes the gap between a firm that records its movements and one that does not considerably harder to hide. In two years’ time “where did it go” will have an answer that does not depend on anyone’s word.
Where this comes from
Every figure and rule on this page is from the source beside it. Where the law is quoted, it is quoted from the statute rather than summarised from somebody else's summary.
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Every firm named on this site is checked against the Environment Agency's public register, and you can check any other firm against the same data in about ten seconds.