Register and Onboard as a Software Provider for the Receipt of Waste API Service
Background
From 1 October 2026, permitted or licenced sites in England and Wales will need to report their waste digitally using the Report Receipt of Waste Service. In Northern Ireland and Scotland, this comes into effect on 1 January 2027. To enable software developers to integrate with the service and its API, this site provides comprehensive software provider documentation.
Process
1. Register for the Receipt of Waste (RoW) API Service
The sign-up link for registration is available from our qualtrics survey pages. See the button below.
Read the API Terms of Service and acknowledge this by clicking the checkbox on the last page of the survey.
Register as a Software Provider
2. Receive Test Credentials from the Digital Waste Tracking (DWT) Team
Following registration, software developers receive test credentials from the DWT team. These test credentials consist of a client ID and a client secret, sent via an encrypted email. Test credentials are used only within the test environment. Production credentials for the production environment are sent following successful implementation of the PAT scenarios (step 7).
To work with the API, software developers need to include an API Code in their requests. For testing, a dummy API Code is used. A list of dummy codes is available from Testing and Production API Codes. In the production environment, software developers must use the API Code supplied for the waste organisation reporting that waste movement.
3. Implement Receipt of Waste (RoW) API Integration
Using the provided test credentials, software developers begin building the integration between their software and the Receipt of Waste API.
Developers can use the available GET reference data endpoints to retrieve necessary codes for container types, hazardous properties, and other required data.
4. Execute the Production Approval Test (PAT) Scenarios
Once the integration is built, software developers must execute Production Approval Test (PAT) scenarios. Refer to the Production Approval Tests.
These scenarios are written in a Gherkin/BDD acceptance criteria format to ensure the software caters to all required API functionality.
Scenarios range from basic waste receipts with a single item to complex mixtures of hazardous and persistent organic pollutants (POPs) components.
5. Interpret Your PAT Results and Self-Certification
For each scenario you’ve run, check your Pass or Fail result via the PAT results endpoint. Use the PAT Self-Service Guidance to interpret what your result means — including whether a Fail reflects a genuine gap, an expected outcome for your market segment, or your own software’s validation working as intended — and self-certify, based on your own assessment, that your software meets the requirements. Defra does not review, mark or approve your results at this stage.
6. Confirm Self-Certification with the DWT Team
Once you’re satisfied your software meets the requirements, email WasteTracking_Developers@defra.gov.uk to confirm self-certification is complete and request your production credentials.
7. Receive Production Credentials from the DWT Team
Once the terms of service are agreed to, the DWT team issues the production credentials and API Code to the software provider.
8. Connect to the Production Environment
The software provider uses the production credentials to establish a connection to the live production environment.
9. The DWT Team Onboards Receivers
The DWT team then onboards waste receivers of the software provider who have already registered their interest in the service.
Receivers accept terms and conditions manually via email, after which they receive their own API codes to share with their software teams to begin submitting real waste movement data.
Changelog
You can find the changelog for this document in the Register and Onboard as a Software Provider GitHub wiki page
Page last updated on October 14th 2026.