Why Defra rejects a receipt of waste
The two commonest reasons are a missing carrier registration number and hazardous waste with no consignment code. Both details can be genuinely absent — but only with a reason stated on the receipt. A receipt that omits the detail and the reason is rejected, and no waste tracking ID is issued until it is corrected and resubmitted.
What a rejection is
When a receipt is submitted, Defra's service checks it against the published rules before accepting it. If it fails, the service returns an error instead of a waste tracking ID. The load is not recorded. The clock keeps running.
Rejection one: no carrier registration number
Every receipt names the carrier by registration number. If the carrier has none — a producer delivering its own waste in its own vehicle, for instance — the receipt can still be accepted, but it must state the reason the number is absent. A receipt with no number and no reason is refused.
The gate is where this is fixed. Ask for the number before the vehicle goes over the bridge, check it against the public register, and write it on the ticket.
Rejection two: hazardous waste with no consignment code
A load flagged as hazardous is expected to carry a hazardous waste consignment note code. If it does not — because the waste arrived without documentation, say — the receipt must give the reason. The API allows a stated reason such as no documentation arriving with the waste. Hazardous plus no code plus no reason is refused.
Other rules worth knowing
- Hazardous and POPs on one item. If an item is both hazardous and contains persistent organic pollutants, the receipt must say both on the same item. Splitting it into two lines fails. See the guide.
- Disposal and recovery codes. A receipt with no D or R code is accepted with a warning; one with several is fine. Add them where you know them.
- Codes that do not exist. A mistyped EWC code is a rejection. Six digits, valid entry.
Tested against Defra's own environment
Before Defra lists a software provider, the software must complete fourteen production-approval test scenarios against Defra's integration environment — including the two rejections above, which the scenarios require the software to trigger correctly. Waste48 passed all fourteen: twelve accepted movements and two correctly refused. The point of that testing is that the rejection never reaches a live site: Reg asks for the missing detail or the reason before Vera is allowed to send.
What to do when one comes back
- Read the reason Defra returned. It names the field.
- Fix the field or add the stated reason.
- Resubmit. Keep both the rejected attempt and the accepted one — an officer may want to see that you corrected it, not that it was never wrong.
Questions sites ask
Can I report a load from a carrier with no registration number?
Yes, if the receipt states the reason the number is absent. Without a reason the receipt is rejected.
Can I report hazardous waste that arrived without a consignment note?
Yes, with a stated reason on the receipt — for example that no documentation arrived with the waste. Without a reason it is rejected.
Does a rejected receipt count as reported?
No. Nothing is recorded until the corrected receipt is accepted and a waste tracking ID is returned. The deadline still applies.
Does software stop rejections?
Good software asks for the missing detail or reason before sending, so the rejection never happens. Ask a provider what it checks before submission.