◤ Tool 01Live
Decode an EWC code
The European Waste Catalogue classifies every waste type with a six-digit code. Search all 839 — by code or keyword — with hazardous wastes flagged and every entry sourced to Defra.
From October 2026, Defra’s Digital Waste Tracking service makes electronic waste-movement reporting mandatory nationwide for the first time (recording opened voluntarily in spring 2026). WasteWatch is the independent, free, no-login tool that turns public waste data into something an ordinary person, a journalist or a councillor can actually use.
We’re not waiting for that data to start being useful. Two tools are live right now — a plain-English lookup for all 839 European Waste Catalogue codes, and a nightly-captured search of England’s waste-carrier register.
What WasteWatch does
WasteWatch only ever shows public data. Some public data exists now; the richest data — where waste actually moves — only becomes available once Defra opens it. We won’t pretend otherwise.
The European Waste Catalogue classifies every waste type with a six-digit code. Search all 839 — by code or keyword — with hazardous wastes flagged and every entry sourced to Defra.
Search any registered UK waste carrier, broker or dealer by name or registration number and see their status — plus a trace of any that lapse or vanish, kept from nightly snapshots the register itself doesn’t retain.
See what waste flows through your area — volumes, types, destinations. This needs waste-movement data at area level, which becomes available only when Defra publishes it to the public.
See what your local authority contracts for its waste — recycling versus landfill, destinations, comparison to similar councils. Also depends on published movement data.
The opportunity
Until now, UK waste data has been fragmented across paper notes, regional regulators and council reports nobody reads. From October 2026 (January 2027 in Scotland), Defra’s Digital Waste Tracking service makes electronic reporting mandatory for waste receivers. From October 2027, carriers, brokers and dealers come into scope. For the first time, the data will be recorded in one structured system.
But recording it and publishing it are two different things. Defra’s service is built so operators can submit data to regulators. Whether — and when — a public, readable version is opened up is a separate decision, and it hasn’t been made yet.
The data will be there. Whether the public ever gets to see it is the open question. WasteWatch exists to be ready the moment it does.
Every UK open-data programme has followed the same pattern. Companies House data underpins fraud monitoring. Land Registry data underpins Rightmove and Zoopla. MOT history underpins every used-car platform. Government records the data; independent tools turn it into something the public can use. Nobody has built that public layer for waste. That’s the gap WasteWatch fills — starting with the reference tools that don’t need to wait, and expanding into the movement data as it opens.
The roadmap
Tools ship when the public data to power them exists — not before.
All 839 European Waste Catalogue codes, searchable by code or keyword, hazardous wastes flagged, every entry sourced to Defra. Free, no login, works offline.
Search the England carrier, broker and dealer register by name, registration number or postcode — captured nightly, so lapsed and vanished carriers leave a trace the register itself drops. SEPA, NRW and NIEA to follow.
Digital waste tracking becomes mandatory for permitted waste receivers in England, Wales and Northern Ireland (Scotland: January 2027). Receivers begin submitting every load. This creates the movement data — it does not, by itself, make it public.
Carriers, brokers and dealers come into mandatory scope (October 2027). WasteWatch expands its register tools as more public data lands.
Postcode waste-flow, council comparison, and search tools for journalists — the moment Defra publishes movement data to the public. No committed date, because it isn’t ours to set.
About
WasteWatch is an independent civic-tech project. It is not affiliated with Defra, the Environment Agency, SEPA, Natural Resources Wales or NIEA. It is a project of Traction Solutions Ltd, built by the team behind CheckPod — a UK fleet compliance platform built by people who actually drive the vehicles.
There is no commercial product on WasteWatch. No premium tier, no advertising, no data resale. It is funded by Traction Solutions Ltd as a public-good project. Public data, made public.
If you’re a journalist, academic, council researcher or environmental campaigner with a question about UK waste data — get in touch. Even before the movement tools launch, we may be able to help.