Waste software for scrap metal recycling sites
If you run a scrap metal recycling site and you want software for the waste paperwork rather than the trading, this is the page. Skiplog records a digital waste transfer note at the gate, adds up tonnage by waste type as the loads come in, and turns the quarter into a CSV laid out in the EA's columns.
How a scrap metal site does this today
A scrap yard takes in a lot of small movements. A van with a boot of copper offcuts, a tipper of mixed ferrous off a demolition job, a trade customer with two bins of cable, a flatbed of baled steel going out to the mill. Every one of those is a waste movement, and every one needs a note that names the waste, carries an EWC code, states the quantity, names the carrier and their licence number, and says where the load is going.
Most yards still do that on paper. The weighbridge ticket comes off the printer with a weight and a registration on it, someone writes the grade and the carrier onto a duplicate book, and the book sits in the cabin until the office collects it. The weight is accurate. The rest depends on whose handwriting it is.
Where it goes wrong
- The ticket is not a transfer note. It gives you a weight and a vehicle. It does not give you an EWC code, a carrier licence number or a destination, so somebody keys those in a second time, later, from memory.
- Grades blur into one line. Ferrous, non-ferrous, cable, mixed metals off a construction job: on paper they often end up as one word, scrap. At the end of the quarter nobody can split the tonnage back out by waste type.
- The cabin is a bad place for signal. Steel sheds, a portable office, a yard on the edge of an industrial estate. The one spot where the note should be written is often the one spot with a bar and a half.
- The quarter arrives as a pile. Three months of tickets, a spreadsheet, and an afternoon of adding up and reformatting into the layout the EA asks for.
That is the job Skiplog is built for: the compliance half of a metal site, not the buying, the pricing or the stock side.
From the lorry on the weighbridge to the filed return
- Write the note while the lorry is still on the plate
On a phone or a tablet in the cabin, a transfer note is built to be completable in under two minutes: waste type, EWC code, quantity, carrier details and destination site. The weighbridge ticket is in your hand, so the weight goes onto the note instead of onto a book and then into a spreadsheet.
- Put the right code against that grade
Each note carries a waste description and an EWC code, so a load of mixed ferrous and a load of cable are two separate lines in your records rather than one word covering both.
- Open the note before you lose the signal
Offline capture holds once the note screen is already open. The note saves on the device first, shows a visible queued, syncing or synced status, and syncs on its own when connectivity returns. Opening Skiplog cold in a black spot with nothing already loaded is a different case, so open the note before you head to the far end of the yard and it will queue until the signal comes back.
- Watch the quarter build on the dashboard
The site dashboard shows how many transfer notes have been logged, tonnage split by waste type, and a compliance status overview, so the office sees the quarter forming instead of discovering it in the last week.
- Keep the carrier registrations in front of you
Carrier, broker and dealer registrations sit on a tracking dashboard with their expiry dates, and anything expiring within 30 days is flagged, with an email alert on that 30-day window. A regular haulier's lapsed registration becomes something you read off a screen rather than find out at the gate.
- Export the return in one go
At quarter end, one click produces a CSV in a configurable EA-specified column layout, ready to submit without manual reformatting. You check it, then you send it.
Why that shape suits a scrap metal site
One keying, not two
A note written at the gate is the record. There is no evening transcription out of a duplicate book, which is where a weight or a carrier name quietly changes between the plate and the spreadsheet.
Grades stay grades in the records
A yard taking ferrous, non-ferrous, cable and mixed metals off the same job cannot sensibly report all of it as one line. An EWC code on every movement means the split already exists in the data instead of being reconstructed months later by whoever is free.
The quarter stops being a surprise
Because tonnage by waste type is visible while the loads are still coming in, a figure that looks wrong gets questioned in week three rather than on the last afternoon before the return is due.
The duty of care record names a real carrier
Carrier name and licence details and the destination sit on the note, and registrations sit on a dashboard with their expiry dates. Who took that load, and were they registered, becomes a question with an answer on screen.
A weak signal is a known, bounded problem
With the note already open, one bar in the cabin does not turn the load back into a paper ticket for somebody to key in later. The boundary is in the steps above: open the note first, and the queue handles the rest.
No compliance clerk to hire for it
One site, unlimited waste transfer notes, unlimited registrations tracked, at £99 a month billed annually or £129 a month. The work stays with the people already in the cabin and the office.
What goes on a note at a metal site
| Field on the transfer note | Where it comes from in the yard |
|---|---|
| Waste type and description | The grade on the plate: ferrous, non-ferrous, cable, mixed metals off a job |
| EWC code | Entered on the note for that grade, so the quarter can be split by waste type |
| Quantity | The weight off the weighbridge ticket, keyed once |
| Carrier details | The haulier or trade customer bringing the load in, with their licence number |
| Destination site | Your permitted yard for an inbound load, the mill or reprocessor for an outbound one |
| Date of transfer | The day the load moved, entered at the gate rather than reconstructed later |
What Skiplog does, and what stays with you
Skiplog is deliberately narrow. It is the record keeping and the return, for one site, run by the people already in the cabin and the office.
- It records transfer notes and generates the quarterly return. Those are the two ends of the job: the note at the gate and the CSV at quarter end.
- It does not submit on your behalf. The export is laid out in the EA's columns and ready to submit. Sending it, and checking it first, is yours.
- It is not a weighbridge, a trading system or a stock book. The weight comes off your ticket. Prices, grades, settlements and customer accounts live wherever they live now.
- It does not produce hazardous waste consignment notes. A metal site that handles a hazardous stream still moves it on a consignment note, which is outside what Skiplog writes.
- Offline capture has a boundary, and we would rather you knew it. The line is the one drawn in the steps above: a note already open saves and queues, a cold start with no signal does not.
- It helps you meet the requirements, it does not guarantee an outcome. The return is only as good as what was typed at the gate, and the rules and formats are not ours to control. That is why the column layout stays configurable.
That is the honest shape of it. A site manager with a tablet, a dashboard the office can read mid-quarter, and one export at the end instead of an afternoon with a calculator.
What a single metal site pays
Annual, £1,188 a year
The same product for £99 a month, billed once a year, for yards that plan a season ahead. One site, unlimited waste transfer notes, unlimited registrations tracked, and a 60-day free trial. Card payments are handled by Stripe.
Monthly, £129 a month
The same product paid month by month, cancel whenever you like. One site, unlimited waste transfer notes, unlimited registrations tracked, and a 60-day free trial. Card payments are handled by Stripe.
Questions
Does Skiplog work on a scrap yard with no mobile signal in the cabin?
Yes, within a boundary we are clear about. If the note screen is already open, the note saves on the device first with a visible queued, syncing or synced status and syncs on its own when connectivity returns. Opening Skiplog cold in a black spot, with nothing already loaded, is not the same thing.
How do people sign in?
With an email address and a password.
Does Skiplog send the quarterly return to the Environment Agency for me?
No. It generates the return as a one-click CSV in a configurable EA-specified column layout, ready to submit without manual reformatting. Checking it and submitting it stays with you.
Can one subscription cover two yards?
No. Each plan covers one site, with unlimited waste transfer notes and unlimited registrations tracked on it.
What does it cost and is there a trial?
Annual is £1,188 a year, which is £99 a month billed once a year. Monthly is £129 a month, cancel whenever you like. Both come with a 60-day free trial, and payments run through Stripe.
Will it tell me when a carrier's registration is about to lapse?
Carrier, broker and dealer registrations are tracked on a dashboard with their expiry dates, anything expiring within 30 days is flagged there, and there is an email alert on that 30-day window.
What happens to my records if the trial ends or I stop paying?
Records are kept while the account is open, because waste records have to span quarters and inspections, and a lapsed trial does not lock them away: they stay readable and exportable. A note you remove comes off your register and returns but stays on file for the two years the regulations require. Deleting the account from the billing screen removes everything at once, so download whatever the EA may still ask you for first.
Does using Skiplog make my site compliant?
It is built to help you meet the record keeping and return requirements, not to guarantee a compliance outcome. The note is only as good as what was entered at the gate, and the rules and submission formats are set by government, not by us.