What the GOV.UK list of compatible software providers means
If you searched for "report receipt of waste: choose a software provider", you are looking for the GOV.UK publication that lists software you can use to report the waste your site takes in. This page explains what that list settles, what it leaves to you, and the questions a small yard should ask next.
The list is a shortlist, not a verdict
GOV.UK publishes a page called "Report receipt of waste: choose a software provider". It sits next to the main guidance on reporting the waste you receive, and its job is narrow: it names suppliers whose software can report into the digital waste tracking service. That is worth knowing. It is also all the list does.
What the list leaves to you
It says nothing about price. Nothing about whether an app still takes a note when the tablet has one bar behind the picking shed. Nothing about who does the typing when a wagon is on the weighbridge and the driver wants to tip and go. Those are the things that decide whether a system gets used all quarter or ends up back on the clipboard by the second week.
So read the list, then put it down and settle two questions of your own. First, the route: software that reports into the service for you, or your own records turned into Defra's spreadsheet and uploaded by your office. Second, where the record is actually created, because a load typed twice is a load typed wrong once. A yard with one weighbridge and a handful of staff usually gets more out of the second question than the first.
Questions
What exactly is on the GOV.UK list of compatible software providers?
It is a GOV.UK publication listing software suppliers you can use to report receipt of waste, published alongside the main report receipt of waste guidance. The entries are about a product being able to report into the digital waste tracking service. Because it comes from government rather than a vendor, it is a reasonable place to start a shortlist. It is not a buyer's guide, and it does not rank anything.
Does being on the list mean Defra approved the software?
Being listed is about a product reporting into the service. It is not a statement that the product suits a two-truck skip firm, that the price is fair, or that the app holds up on one bar of signal at the weighbridge. Marketing copy across this category tends to shorten "listed" into "approved", which is a bigger claim than the publication itself makes. Read an entry the way you would read a trade directory entry, then do your own checks.
Do I have to use a provider from the list?
Not necessarily. The GOV.UK guidance on reporting receipt of waste sets out more than one way to get your records in, including Defra's own spreadsheet, which your yard fills and uploads itself. Plenty of small receiving sites will keep the records in their own system and upload rather than buying a connected provider. Check the guidance against your own permit and waste types before you sign anything, and read our page on the spreadsheet route for how that choice plays out day to day.
Is Skiplog on the list?
Skiplog's job is the yard end. It is built so that the transfer note written at the weighbridge, with the waste type, EWC code, quantity, carrier details and destination, comes back out as receipt-of-waste rows ready for Defra's spreadsheet for your office to upload, and as the quarterly EA return CSV. On the list itself: it names suppliers whose software reports into the service, and Skiplog is not among them. Skiplog is not open to customers yet, so if the weighbridge end is the part you want solved, join the waitlist.
What should a small yard check before choosing any provider?
Check what happens when the signal drops, because a tablet with no bars is the normal case in a yard rather than the edge case. Check whether one record covers the transfer note, the receipt rows for Defra and the quarterly EA return, or whether the same load gets entered three times. Check that the price is published rather than quoted after a demo, and that any trial runs long enough to cover a real quarter-end. Skiplog is built around those points: a transfer note with the EA-mandated fields completable in under two minutes on a mobile or tablet, offline capture, a one-click quarterly EA return CSV in a configurable EA-specified column layout, and a dashboard showing notes logged and tonnage by waste type.
What happens at the weighbridge when the connection goes down?
Ask every provider this before you ask anything else. Skiplog is built offline-first: a note saves on the device first, with a visible queued, syncing or synced status, and syncs on its own when connectivity returns. The point is that the load is recorded while the driver is still in front of you, not after someone remembers the paper ticket in the cab. A system that needs a connection before it will take a note is the system that gets bypassed on a bad day.
What if a row bounces back from Defra after I upload it?
Put this question to every provider you consider, because the clock on putting a record right keeps running while you work out which row is wrong. Defra's service, not your software, decides whether a row is accepted, so the correction happens in your own records and in your next upload. Skiplog's part is the file: receipt-of-waste rows ready for Defra's spreadsheet, for your yard to upload, built from the notes written at the weighbridge, and a quarterly EA return as a one-click CSV export you can re-run from the records as they stand. Skiplog helps you meet the requirements rather than guaranteeing an outcome.
What does Skiplog cost, and is there a trial?
Skiplog is not open to customers yet, so these are the plans the waitlist will move into once it opens. Annual is £1,188 a year, which works out at £99 a month billed once a year, or £129 a month on Monthly, cancel whenever you like. Both plans carry a 60-day free trial and cover one site with unlimited transfer notes and unlimited tracked carrier, broker and dealer registrations, with email alerts for registrations expiring within 30 days. Card payments run through Stripe. Our page on what digital waste tracking costs a small business covers the government service's own fees and the wider cost picture, and our page on free transfer note apps covers the cheaper end of the market.