Can a transfer note be electronic?

Yes. The regulations expressly allow an electronic note with electronic signatures, as long as it can be produced in a readable form when asked. A PDF signed on a phone screen is fine.

What's a season ticket?

One note covering a series of regular collections of the same type of non-hazardous waste, with the same carrier, for up to a year. Handy for a weekly trade-waste round; useless for one-off clearances.

Do I need one for a house clearance?

Not from the householder — households don't have a duty to write one. You should still keep a record of the job, and the load you tip still gets a note or ticket at the site. From October 2027 your movement of it is reported under digital waste tracking too.

What's the SIC code and where do I find it?

The customer's five-digit industry code from the 2007 list — it's on their Companies House page. It has to be on the note for business customers. Households don't have one.

What about Scotland and Northern Ireland?

Scotland's rules are similar but require postcodes for both parties and the place of transfer. Northern Ireland requires a statement that the waste hierarchy has been applied. This guide covers England and Wales.

How to write a waste transfer note (with an example)

What it’s for

The law says whoever handles waste has a duty of care for it — and a transfer note is the proof that the waste was handed from one responsible person to another. If a load you carried turns up fly-tipped, the note is what shows the customer handed it to a licensed carrier, and what shows you took it to a permitted site. No note, no proof, and the fine lands on whoever can’t produce one.

What has to be on it

Regulation 35 of the Waste (England and Wales) Regulations 2011 lists it. In plain English:

What the waste is, with the six-digit code for each type — the “EWC” or List of Wastes code. Mixed household-type rubbish is 20 03 01; bulky items like sofas are 20 03 07; mixed building waste is 17 09 04. One line per type.
How much, and whether it’s loose or in something — bags, a skip, a container. A tonnage is best; bags or skips are fine if that’s what you know.
The time and place of transfer — the date, the time and the address. Time, not just date. Most pads only have a date box.
The customer’s SIC code — their five-digit 2007 industry code. It’s on Companies House. Business customers only.
Both names and addresses — the customer’s and yours.
Each side’s status and references — the customer is the waste producer; you’re a registered carrier, so your licence number (CBDU…) goes on. If the load goes to a tip, their permit or exemption number goes on the note for that transfer too.
The waste hierarchy box — a line confirming that reuse and recycling were considered before disposal. This is the one most paper pads don’t have, and it’s mandatory.
Both signatures.

An example

Sofa and rubble from a shop refit, one van load, taken to a transfer station:

WASTE TRANSFER NOTENo. WB-000241

Customer: [Shop name] Ltd · SIC 47710
Carrier: [Your firm] · CBDU [123456] · upper tier
Collected: Tue 10:05 · [street], [postcode]
Tipped at: [Transfer station] · permit EPR/[......]

20 03 07 · Sofa, two-seater (POPs)1 item

17 09 04 · Mixed building waste0.8 t

20 01 36 · Washing machine1 item

Waste hierarchy considered — ticked

Both statuses and references recorded — ticked

Kept for two years — ticked

The bracketed bits are the ones you fill in. Everything else is the shape every note should have.

The three things pads leave off

The waste hierarchy line. Without it the note is incomplete. Our free tool won’t make a note without it ticked.
The time. “Tuesday” isn’t a time of transfer.
The tip’s permit number. The load has two transfers — customer to you, and you to the tip — and the second one needs the site’s reference.

Households

A householder handing you waste doesn’t have to write a note. They do have to check you’re licensed, and if they don’t and the waste gets dumped, they can be fined. So give them something: a collection receipt with your licence number, what you took and where it went. It protects them and it’s your best advert.

Hazardous waste

Fridges, TVs and monitors, fluorescent tubes, batteries, asbestos and solvent-based paint aren’t transfer-note waste — they need a hazardous waste consignment note, kept for three years, with different rules. If a load has both, it needs both documents. Sofas and armchairs are a special case: they count as POPs waste, must be kept separate and can’t go to landfill, but the code stays 20 03 07 and they go on the ordinary note.

Keeping it

Both sides keep the note for at least two years and must be able to produce it within seven days if the Environment Agency asks. A PDF in your email is fine; a pad in the van that got wet isn’t. Write one now, free — every box above is on it, and we keep a copy for two years.