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Waste Transfer Notes

UK Waste Regulations require businesses that transfer their waste to another party to maintain a signed record of the transfer and keep this for at least two years.

Retaining waste transfer notes is essential for demonstrating that your business has taken responsibility for the waste it produces.

Failure to provide a transfer note is a criminal offence with the legal implications of warnings, cautions, prosecution and fixed penalty notices.

💡 This article applies to non-hazardous waste transfers. Hazardous waste requires a more detailed consignment note. For more details, refer to our full hazardous waste article.

When is a waste transfer note required?

The Duty of Care Regulations apply to any transfer of commercial waste. See our full classification of commercial waste article for more details.

Waste transfer notes are required whenever commercial waste is passed to another party. Here are the most common scenarios:

Disposing of waste at a commercial recycling centre or waste transfer station.
Passing commercial waste to a private waste collection provider.
Passing waste to a commercial waste collection service provided by the local council.

Different types of waste transfer notes

The Duty of Care Regulations permit several different types of waste transfer notes:

A Waste Collection Invoice or Paper Transfer Note

For one-off waste collections, commercial waste collection providers typically include all the details of the waste transfer on their invoice, which is then signed by both parties.

Season tickets/Annual waste transfer notes

These are used when you have a regular waste or recycling collection service, either with the local council or a commercial waste collection provider.

In addition to the standard details on a waste transfer note, a waste collection provider will maintain a record of:

The time and date of all collections.
The number of sacks/weight collected on each occasion.

A business waste collection season ticket will need to be reissued each year. Some waste providers will include a season ticket administration charge within their commercial waste collection costs.

Waste Transfer Note templates

We recommend relying on a trusted waste collection provider who can arrange the necessary paperwork for waste transfer notes.

However, if you prefer to prepare this document yourself, the gov.uk website offers a template for a waste transfer note.

What information must be included in a waste transfer note?

The following details the general information required in the waste transfer note for the simple case of a small business producing general business waste or commercial recycling:

Description of waste:
- The type of waste being transferred (general business waste/dry mixed recycling/commercial food waste/individual recycling streams).
- How much waste is being transferred (number of sacks/weight)
- How the waste is stored prior to collection (type of commercial waste bin)
Details of your business/organisation:
- Name
- Address
Details of the waste collector:
- Name
- Address
- Waste carrier licence registration number (if applicable)
- Environmental permit number (if applicable)
Details of the waste transfer:
- Where the waste was collected/disposed of
- Date of the transfer
- Signatures
- Your business representative name and signature
- Waste collection representative name and signature