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Digital Waste Tracking: API integration guidance

Status: draft outline, v0.1

Owner: Dave Oliver

Contents

1. Introduction

Purpose of document: This document provides guidance for software providers building producer, broker, carrier/driver or receiver-facing systems that will interact with Defra's dedicated API to record waste movements.

Service background: Digital Waste Tracking (DWT) is a UK cross-government programme to build a single digital service for tracking waste movements, ultimately replacing paper-based waste transfer notes (WTNs). Its main aims are to reduce waste crime and misclassification, improve data on how waste moves domestically to support the transition to a circular economy, and cut the administrative burden of the current fragmented, paper-based system.

Current status: The current focus of the DWT development team is to reach the first 'development milestone' of the service (Aug/Sep 2026) - to test API interactions in a sandbox environment and use the findings to better refine the service for rollout. The scope of this document is therefore focused on the integration API only, rather than the overall DWT service, which will follow. While the overall concept and rollout timetable are approved, some coding and naming elements may evolve as the development progresses.

DWT events

API roadmap – full view


2. Service overview

DWT events

2.1 Lifecycle stages

The API is organised around four stages:

Stage What happens
Creation Movement created; estimated details declared; Movement ID generated
Collection Carrier/driver records the collection against a Movement ID
Delivery Driver records delivery and declares the Movement ID in scope; Delivery ID generated
Receipt Receiving site records acceptance of the waste against the Delivery ID

2.2 Actors

  • Producer / Controller (EA term) – the organisation whose waste is being moved
  • Broker / Controller (EA term) – arranges the movement on behalf of a producer or receiver
  • Carrier / Transporter (EA term) – the organisation licensed to transport the waste; may operate through a Driver as the field-level user recording events in real time
  • Receiver – the site accepting the waste for treatment, disposal or recovery

2.3 Core identifiers

  • Waste Movement ID – movementId is the primary record of an intended waste movement, created before the waste moves
  • Waste Delivery ID – deliveryId is the record created at delivery; a single Delivery ID can bundle one or more Movement IDs together


3. API reference

You can see the current API spec at: Digital Waste Tracking OpenAPI specification.

The spec will update with each milestone in the development process – expect some shapes to shift before go-live.


4. Business rules and data reconciliation

4.1 Collection cardinality

One collection entry per physical collection event, even where loads are later combined at delivery.

4.2 Movement-to-delivery cardinality

Many Movement IDs can be linked to a single Delivery ID at delivery; a Delivery ID always originates from exactly one delivery event.


Appendix A: glossary

Term Meaning
DWT Digital Waste Tracking – the digital service this API supports
EA Environment Agency
EWC European Waste Catalogue – the code list used to classify waste type
HWCN Hazardous Waste Consignment Note – the paper record DWT replaces for hazardous waste
POPs Persistent organic pollutants – chemicals subject to additional handling and reporting rules
Waste Movement ID Identifier issued when a movement is created, before waste moves
Waste Delivery ID Identifier issued at delivery; can link multiple Movement IDs together
WTN Waste Transfer Note – the paper record DWT replaces for non-hazardous waste

Appendix B: endpoint quick reference

Method Path
POST /movements
POST /movements/{movementId}/collection
POST /deliveries
POST /deliveries/{deliveryId}/receipt