Digital Waste Tracking software Digital Waste Tracking, from the weighbridge ticket.
From 1 October 2026, in-scope sites receiving waste in England and Wales report it to DEFRA’s Digital Waste Tracking service. OpenWeigh Waste prepares each receipt from the ticket you complete, tracks its deadline and shows exactly where it stands.
What OpenWeigh does
No second system and no retyping.
The receipt is built from the facts the ticket already holds: the site, the parties, the vehicle, the waste with its EWC codes and the weight.
| When | What OpenWeigh does |
|---|---|
| A ticket is completed | Prepares a receipt of waste from that completed version of the ticket and works out its statutory deadline. |
| Something would be refused | Names the field, who fixes it and where, before anything is sent. |
| The receipt is ready | Sends it automatically, or holds it for an operator to send — one at a time or several together. |
| A send fails | Retries safe failures with back-off. Rejected, blocked or uncertain receipts are held for a person. |
| DEFRA accepts it | Records the Waste Tracking ID DEFRA issues. |
| The ticket is corrected | Prepares a new version of the receipt and sends it as an update. Earlier versions and every attempt are kept. |
Deadlines
The clock is on every receipt.
A receipt is due two working days from the day after the waste arrived, excluding weekends and England and Wales bank holidays. DWT Submissions counts what is overdue and what is due within a day, so nothing is found late.
- 1 · OpenWeigh preparation
Ready, or what needs correcting
The receipt is checked against what DEFRA will accept, and any finding says who owns the fix.
- 2 · Transmission
Automatic or manual
Receipts go automatically or wait for an operator to send them, as you choose.
- 3 · DEFRA response
Accepted, with its ID
The Waste Tracking ID is recorded when DEFRA accepts the receipt.
Readiness
Set up once, per site.
Each receiving business registers with DEFRA and receives its own receiver API code. You add it on My Company, and Site Waste Tracking shows every site’s readiness in one place.
Your registration, your receiver code
OpenWeigh stores the receiver API code DEFRA issues to your business. It does not register on your behalf.
Nothing is lost while you wait
From 1 October 2026 every applicable completed ticket prepares a receipt, even before a code is set up. It keeps its deadline and waits, visibly, on DWT Submissions.
Try it against DEFRA’s test service
An account can rehearse submissions against DEFRA’s test environment. Test receipts are labelled as test rehearsals on screen.
Sending to DEFRA’s live service depends on DEFRA’s production approval of OpenWeigh, which is in progress. Until it is complete, receipts are prepared, deadlined and held on DWT Submissions.
Scope
What is covered today.
OpenWeigh covers the first phase of Digital Waste Tracking: waste received at a receiving site. It does not report collections by carriers, brokers or dealers, or loads leaving your site.
OpenWeigh helps you capture and send the information a receipt needs. It does not make a site compliant on its own; responsibility for what is recorded and reported stays with the operator.
Is OpenWeigh approved by DEFRA?
DEFRA’s production approval of OpenWeigh is in progress. Until it is complete, receipts are prepared and held, and can be rehearsed against DEFRA’s test service.
Do I have to register with DEFRA myself?
Yes. Each receiving business registers with DEFRA and receives its own receiver API code, which you add to OpenWeigh.
What if we have not set up our receiver code by 1 October?
Completed tickets still prepare their receipts, with their deadlines. They wait on DWT Submissions until a usable code is in place.
Can a receipt be corrected after it is sent?
Yes. Correcting the ticket prepares a new version of the receipt, which is sent to DEFRA as an update. Earlier versions and every attempt are kept.
Get started
Get your receipts ready before the deadline.
Sign up online, set up your first site and put your next ticket through OpenWeigh Waste.
Already using OpenWeigh? Sign in