What information must a waste transfer note contain?
A waste transfer note has to describe a load well enough that someone who never saw it can tell what the waste was, who moved it and where it ended up. In practice that means a written description with its EWC code, the quantity, the container, the date and place of transfer, both parties' names, addresses and registration or permit numbers, the waste hierarchy declaration, and a signature from ea
The fields, and why each one is there
A transfer note is not a receipt. It is the record that proves a load of waste moved from one responsible party to another, and that both of them knew what was in it. Every field on it exists to answer one question an inspector might ask later: what was the waste, how much of it was there, who handed it over, who took it, under what registration or permit, and when.
That is why blank boxes matter more than untidy ones. A note that says "builders waste" with no code, or names a carrier with no registration number, does not answer the question it was written to answer. For a skip yard or transfer station the stakes are a little higher than for the person dropping the load off, because the receiving site is usually the one holding the file when someone comes to read it.
Where the detail comes from
The duty of care guidance sets out what the note has to cover, and the List of Waste gives you the code that goes with your description. Nothing in that list is unusual for a yard that already fills in a duplicate book. The difference with a digital record is that the boxes can be made to insist on themselves instead of being skipped at the weighbridge in the rain.
What goes in each box
| Field | What goes in it |
|---|---|
| Description of the waste | Plain words for what is actually in the skip, enough that someone who never saw the load can picture it. |
| EWC code | The six digit List of Waste code that matches the description, carrying the asterisk where the entry is hazardous. |
| Quantity | Weight or volume. Off the weighbridge ticket where you have one, a reasonable and stated estimate where you do not. |
| Container | How the waste travelled: skip, grab lorry, roll on roll off, tipper, loose load. |
| Date, time and place of transfer | When the load changed hands and the address where it changed hands. |
| Both parties, in full | Name and address of the person handing the waste over and of the person taking it, not just a trading name on the side of a cab. |
| Registrations, permits and exemptions | The carrier, broker or dealer registration number, and the environmental permit or exemption number of the site receiving the waste. |
| Transferor's status and SIC code | Whether they produced or imported the waste, and the standard industrial classification code for the business it came from. |
| Waste hierarchy declaration | A statement that the hierarchy was applied, meaning reduction, reuse and recycling were considered before disposal. |
| Signatures | One from each side, with the signer's name and the capacity they signed in. |
Questions
What information must a waste transfer note contain?
A description of the waste in plain words, the matching EWC code, the quantity, and the kind of container it moved in. Then the date, time and place of the transfer, the full names and addresses of the person handing it over and the person taking it, and the registration, permit or exemption number each of them relies on. On top of that, whether the transferor produced or imported the waste, their business activity code, and a declaration that the waste hierarchy was applied. Finally, a signature from each party, with the name and capacity of whoever signed.
What counts as an adequate description of the waste?
Enough detail that someone reading the note months later could tell what was in the load without asking you. "Mixed skip waste from a domestic clearance, wood, plasterboard and soft furnishings" is a description. "General waste" on its own is not, because it does not tell a reader whether anything in the load needed separate handling. The description and the code have to agree with each other, so if you change one you check the other.
Does the EWC code have to be on the note?
Yes. The code is how the description is made comparable across every site and every return, so it belongs on the note alongside the words, not instead of them. Pick the entry that fits the waste as it actually arrived, and keep the asterisk where the entry is an absolute hazardous one. Our glossary page on EWC codes walks through how the list is structured and where mixed loads tend to go wrong.
Do I have to weigh the load, or will an estimate do?
A quantity has to be on the note, and a weighbridge figure is the strongest version of it. If the load never crosses a weighbridge, a volume or a reasonable estimate can stand, as long as it is honest and recorded in a consistent unit. Where you are estimating, say so, because an estimate labelled as an estimate is defensible and a made up exact number is not. Quantities also feed your tonnage figures later, so a sloppy habit here shows up in your own reporting.
What do I need to record about the carrier?
The carrier's name and address, and the registration number they hold as a waste carrier, broker or dealer. If the person delivering is not the registered holder, the note needs to name the business that is. Check the number against the public register rather than copying it off a clipboard, because a registration that has lapsed makes the movement a problem for both ends. Expiry dates matter as much as the number itself.
What has to go on the note about the receiving site?
The site taking the waste has to be identified by name and address, and by the environmental permit or exemption it operates under. For a transfer station or skip yard that means your own permit or exemption number appears on every note you receive, which is one of the reasons a typo in it is worth catching early. If a load is being moved on afterwards, that onward movement is its own transfer with its own note.
Who signs the note, and what goes next to the signature?
Both sides sign: the party handing the waste over and the party taking it. Next to each signature goes the signer's name in readable form and the capacity they are signing in, for example weighbridge operator or driver on behalf of the carrier. A note signed by nobody in particular is hard to stand behind if anyone asks who agreed to what. Whether that signature can be captured on a screen rather than on carbon paper is covered on our page about signing a transfer note electronically.
Does a digital note need the same fields as a paper one?
The information required does not change because the record is on a tablet instead of in a duplicate book. What changes is that boxes can be made to ask for themselves, codes can be held against descriptions, and nothing gets lost in a cab footwell. Skiplog is built to take the waste type, EWC code, quantity, carrier details and destination site in under two minutes on mobile or tablet, so the core of the note is captured while the load is still on the weighbridge. Check anything your own transfer additionally needs, such as container detail, addresses, the SIC code and the hierarchy declaration, is carried on your record too.