Waste hierarchy declaration on a transfer note
A waste hierarchy declaration is the statement on a waste transfer note confirming that the person handing over the waste applied the waste hierarchy before sending it on. It is a required part of the note under the waste regulations for England and Wales, not a bolt-on, and this page sets out the wording it usually takes and where it sits.
What a waste hierarchy declaration is
A waste hierarchy declaration is the line on a waste transfer note where the person handing over the waste confirms they have applied the waste hierarchy, meaning they considered preventing the waste, preparing it for re-use and recycling it before sending it for other recovery or disposal. The declaration belongs to the transferor, it is signed as part of the note, and the waste regulations for England and Wales treat it as part of a complete transfer note rather than as an optional tick box.
It is a short statement about thinking that happened before the skip was lifted, not about what the receiving site does next. The yard taking the load in cannot make the declaration on the producer's behalf. What the yard can do is notice when a note arrives without one, because an incomplete note is the yard's problem as much as the producer's once the waste is through the gate.
Where it sits on the note
On most standard transfer notes the declaration sits near the bottom, above or beside the two signatures, often as a printed sentence with a space to confirm the measures taken. On a digital record it is a field like any other field, carried with the same note as the waste description, the EWC code and the weight.
The five steps the declaration refers to
| Step | What it means | What it looks like in a yard |
|---|---|---|
| Prevention | Not producing the waste in the first place | A builder ordering closer to the measured quantity, so less goes in the skip |
| Preparing for re-use | Cleaning, checking or repairing so the item is used again as it is | Reclaimed bricks, slabs and timber pulled off the top before the skip is loaded |
| Recycling | Reprocessing the material into a product or material | Segregated inert, metals and clean timber going out as separate grades |
| Other recovery | Recovery by another route, including energy recovery | Residual fines and mixed light material sent on as fuel |
| Disposal | Landfill or incineration without recovery | The last fraction nothing else will take, and the step the declaration asks you to justify |
An example, and the mistake to avoid
A groundworker drops a mixed construction and demolition load at a transfer station. The transfer note names both parties, describes the waste, carries the EWC code and the weight off the weighbridge ticket, and near the signatures it reads along the lines of: I confirm that I have applied the waste hierarchy as required by the waste regulations. That sentence is the declaration.
The common mistake is treating it as a pre-printed formality. The regulation asks for the hierarchy to have been applied, so a declaration that is signed on a load nobody ever looked at is a statement that does not match the yard. The practical version is boring and useful: if the producer segregated anything, say so in a line of plain words on the note, and if they did not, that is still the honest answer and it is on the record.
The second thing worth knowing is scope. The declaration goes with the transfer, so one note carries one declaration, and a season ticket covering repeat collections carries it for the period the ticket covers. Hazardous loads do not travel on a transfer note at all, they travel on a consignment note, which is a separate document with its own fields.
Related terms
- Waste transfer note (WTN): the document the declaration lives on. The page on what a waste transfer note is covers the parties, the signatures and the two-year retention.
- Duty of care: the wider obligation the note evidences. There is a page on what duty of care means specifically for a receiving site.
- EWC code: the List of Waste code that describes the material on the same note, with its own reference page and a page on mixed construction and demolition waste.
- Season ticket: one note covering repeat collections of the same waste from the same place, which is where the declaration's scope question comes up most.
- Consignment note: the hazardous waste equivalent, and the right document when asbestos or contaminated material turns up at the gate.
- Transfer note fields: if you are checking a note for completeness, the page on what information a transfer note must contain lists the fields alongside this one, and the template page walks each field in order.
Questions
Who signs the waste hierarchy declaration?
The transferor, meaning the person or business handing the waste over. A receiving site cannot make the declaration on the producer's behalf, but it should check the note it accepts carries one.
Is there set wording for the declaration?
There is no single mandated sentence. Standard transfer note templates print a confirmation that the hierarchy has been applied, and the useful addition is a short plain note of what was actually done, such as which materials were segregated.
Does a season ticket need its own declaration?
Yes. A season ticket is still a transfer note, so it carries the declaration for the collections and the period it covers rather than needing one per lift.
Does the declaration apply to hazardous waste?
Hazardous waste moves on a consignment note, not a transfer note, so the transfer note declaration does not apply to it. See the consignment note page for what that document carries instead.
What happens if the declaration is missing from a note?
The note is incomplete, and an incomplete note is a record-keeping failure for both parties if an inspector asks for it. The page on missing or incomplete transfer notes covers how that is treated.
Does digital waste tracking change the declaration?
The obligation sits in the waste regulations and is about the waste, not the medium. As records move onto digital waste tracking, the declaration becomes a field carried with the rest of the note rather than a line in a duplicate book.