Hazardous waste consignment notes, digital from the first lift
A hazardous waste consignment note (HWCN) must travel with every movement of hazardous waste in England. AxiWaste flags hazardous streams from your waste catalogue and switches the document to consignment-note treatment, signed in the driver app and checked against the carrier register. This page is for producers, carriers, brokers and the receiving sites that complete part E.
Consignment notes at a glance
When
Every movement of hazardous waste. The note stays with the waste to its final destination.
Who fills it in
Producer or holder: A and B. Carrier: C. Consignor: D. Consignee: E.
Codes
The SIC 2007 code for the activity and the EWC / List of Wastes code for the waste.
Records
Producers and holders keep notes for 3 years. Consignees send quarterly returns.
Parts A to E, and who completes them
| Part | Completed by | Covers |
|---|---|---|
| A and B | Producer or holder | Notification details (A) and the description of the waste, including the SIC and EWC codes (B) |
| C | Carrier | Carrier's certificate |
| D | Consignor | Consignor's certificate, on handing the waste to the carrier |
| E | Consignee | Consignee's certificate, recording what was received |
Source: Hazardous waste: consignment notes (GOV.UK, England). You can buy notes from the Environment Agency, use one from your waste contractor or write your own, as long as it includes the information on the consignment note form. Use a continuation sheet if you need more space.
Getting the codes right
Producers and holders need two codes. The SIC code (2007) describes the business activity that produced the waste. The waste classification code, from the List of Wastes (often still called the EWC), describes the waste itself.
Most consignment-note errors start with the waste code. In AxiWaste the code comes from your own controlled catalogue rather than the driver's memory, and a hazardous entry in the catalogue is what switches the document to consignment-note treatment.
Keeping records and consignee returns
The duty of care code says hazardous waste consignment notes are kept for three years; consignees follow different periods.
Consignees send consignee returns every quarter, to the Environment Agency and to the waste producer or holder, as separate documents. Returns for July to September 2026 were due by 31 October 2026, and returns for October to December 2026 are due by 31 January 2027. Fees are charged per consignment: £10 electronic or £19 paper for a single consignment, and £5 electronic or £10 paper for a multiple collection. GOV.UK: consignee returns.
Receiving sites that take hazardous waste also have the separate digital waste tracking duty to report each receipt to Defra within 2 working days.
Same engine, extra declarations
Catalogue
Hazardous entries in your waste catalogue are flagged, so the job knows a consignment note is needed.
Collection
The driver completes the lift in the offline app, with photos and the weight.
Consignment-note treatment
The document switches from WTN to consignment-note treatment with the additional declarations.
Signatures
Signed on the device by the parties at each hand-over, timestamped and locked.
Checks and reporting
Carrier and broker licences are re-checked nightly; receipts go to Defra's API with retry.
Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland
The GOV.UK consignment note guidance above applies to England. Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland regulate hazardous (in Scotland, special) waste separately: Natural Resources Wales, SEPA and, in Northern Ireland, DAERA through the Northern Ireland Environment Agency. Check the forms and fees with your regulator.
Digital waste tracking reaches receiving sites in Scotland and Northern Ireland on 1 January 2027. Scotland and Northern Ireland deadline.
What it costs
AxiWaste is priced per user. Licences start from £35 per admin user and £4 per driver a month, excluding VAT. A team of 2 admin users and 4 drivers starts from £86 a month. Configuration, bespoke work and integrations are quoted separately.
The same licences cover the notes, the driver app, Defra submission and the rest of the platform: sales and CRM, dispatch, route planning and invoicing. The £26 a year Defra service fee for receiving sites is separate and paid to the government service.
Hazardous waste consignment note questions
When do I need a hazardous waste consignment note?
Whenever hazardous waste is moved in England. GOV.UK says you must use consignment notes to move hazardous waste and the note must stay with the waste until it reaches its final destination. GOV.UK: consignment notes.
Who fills in which part?
Producers and holders complete parts A and B, the carrier completes part C, the consignor part D and the consignee part E.
Which codes go on the note?
The 2007 SIC code for the activity that produced the waste, and the waste classification code (List of Wastes or EWC) for the waste itself.
How long are consignment notes kept?
Three years for producers and holders under the duty of care code. Consignees have different periods.
What are consignee returns?
Quarterly reports from the consignee on hazardous waste received, treated or disposed of, sent to the Environment Agency and to the producer or holder. Fees per consignment are £10 electronic or £19 paper, or £5 and £10 for multiple collections. GOV.UK: consignee returns.
How does AxiWaste handle hazardous waste?
Hazardous streams are flagged from your waste catalogue and the document switches to consignment-note treatment with the additional declarations, using the same signatures, licence checks and audit trail as a WTN.
What does Defra's software provider list mean?
GOV.UK's page Report receipt of waste: choose a software provider lists providers that have self-certified their software against the digital waste tracking requirements: integration with the Receipt of Waste API and passing the Production Approval Test (PAT) scenarios Defra publishes. The page does not rank or compare providers. Defra says buying software is at your own risk and that the list is not exhaustive.
How is AxiWaste listed?
On the GOV.UK list the provider is Axithorn and the product is Axiwaste (checked 5 November 2026; the page was last updated 23 October 2026).
What does “exempt for certain PAT scenarios” mean?
Some product entries on Defra's list carry that note. GOV.UK says providers must show their software supports the 14 PAT scenarios and must make clear to customers which scenarios it does not support. The note applies to the entries that carry it, not to every provider, so ask any provider which scenarios it supports. The AxiWaste entry carries no such note.
Is the £26 Defra fee part of the software price?
No. The digital waste tracking service fee is £26 a year per organisation, paid to the government service and covering all of that organisation's waste-receiving sites, with the first payment due by 31 January 2027 (GOV.UK). It is separate from any software licence.
Keep reading
Consignment note software
WTNs and hazardous consignment notes from one job record.
Digital waste transfer notes
What goes on a WTN, signing it digitally and how long to keep it.
WTN and consignment note checklist
A printable checklist for the office and the cab.
See a hazardous stream switch to a consignment note
Twenty minutes: a hazardous line on a job, the consignment-note treatment, the signatures and the Defra submission.
See a consignment note generated from a real job
Bring a hazardous stream you move today and we will walk it through AxiWaste.