Digital WTNs and EWC coding — signed at the kerbside, not typed up later
A Waste Transfer Note written up back at the office is a record of what someone remembers. AxiWaste generates the WTN the moment the lift completes — EWC-coded from your own catalogue, signed electronically by driver and site, and archived with the licence evidence attached.
Key facts
The WTN
The legal record accompanying every non-hazardous waste transfer — what the waste is, who moved it, who received it, when.
The EWC code
The European Waste Catalogue classification for each waste stream — assigned per line, not guessed once per job.
Consignment notes
Hazardous streams are flagged automatically and handled with the extra declarations they need — same engine, same audit trail.
Duty of care
Carrier and broker licences on every job are re-checked nightly against the Environment Agency's public register.
The problem with the pad of blank WTNs in the cab
Codes get guessed
When the driver fills in the EWC code from memory, every note is a small gamble. One wrong classification on a hazardous stream isn't a typo — it's a compliance breach with your company's name on it.
Notes go missing
Paper gets wet, left on dashboards, filed in the wrong month. When the Environment Agency asks for the chain on a specific load, "it's in one of these boxes" is not an audit trail.
Licences go stale
A carrier's licence checked once at onboarding can lapse without anyone noticing. If you keep transferring waste to them, their problem becomes yours.
From lift to archive, without a pen
Generated on completion
The moment the driver confirms the lift, the WTN renders itself — customer, carrier, disposal site, waste lines and weights already attached from the job record. Nothing is re-typed.
EWC from your catalogue
Codes come from your controlled waste catalogue, assigned per stream. Hazardous entries automatically switch the document to consignment-note treatment with the additional declarations.
Signed electronically
Driver and receiving site sign on-device. The signed note is timestamped and locked — no "we'll sort the paperwork later".
Checked every night
Every carrier and broker licence on your jobs is verified against the Environment Agency's public register overnight. An expiring licence is flagged to you before it becomes a liability.
WTN & EWC questions, answered
What is a Waste Transfer Note?
The legal record that accompanies a transfer of non-hazardous waste between parties in the UK — documenting what the waste is (via its EWC code), who transferred it, who received it, and when.
What is an EWC code?
The European Waste Catalogue code classifying a waste stream — e.g. 20 03 01 for mixed municipal waste. Under Digital Waste Tracking, EWC codes must be reported per stream on every receipt.
When do I need a consignment note instead?
For hazardous waste. AxiWaste flags hazardous streams automatically from your catalogue and routes them through consignment-note treatment — same engine, additional declarations, same audit trail.
Can WTNs be fully digital?
Yes — and from 1 October 2026, the reporting behind them must be. See the Digital Waste Tracking mandate explained.
See a digital WTN generated live from a real job
Twenty minutes, your own examples if you like. We'll show you the lift-to-archive journey end to end.