Hazardous waste consignment note guide

What the note is for

You must use a consignment note to move hazardous waste, and it has to stay with the waste until it reaches its destination. It tells the carrier and the receiving site what they are handling. It also proves that you passed the waste to someone authorised and described it properly.

A waste transfer note is a different document, used for non-hazardous waste. If you are sending a mixed collection, the hazardous items travel on a consignment note. Do not assume a note you used for general waste will do.

The parts of the note in England

The official form in England is HWCN01. You may use a note from your waste contractor or write your own, provided it includes the information on the official form.

Part A gives the consignment note code (A1), the premises the waste is coming from (A2), where it is going (A3) and the producer if different (A4). The producer or holder completes it.

Part B describes the waste: the process that produced it and a SIC or NACE code for the activity, followed by the detail of each waste. That detail is the waste code, the description, the quantity in kilograms, the components and their concentrations, the physical form, the hazard codes and the containers. The producer or holder completes this too.

Part C is the carrier's certificate. The carrier checks Parts A and B and the waste, then completes this part before removing anything.

Part D is the consignor's certificate. The consignor must be present at the collection and signs after the carrier. On a school or hospital collection, this is normally the person who handed over the waste.

Part E is completed by the consignee when the waste arrives. It records what was received, how much of it and how it is being treated or disposed of.

Parts A to D cannot be changed once they have been certified or the waste has been removed, and a note changed afterwards is invalid. If a consignee finds an error, they reject the waste instead of correcting it. That is why it is worth taking two minutes to read the note before you sign.

England: the consignment note code

The England code follows this format: XXXXXX/YYYYY. It is more specific than the shorthand "six letters and five characters" that you may have heard.

• XXXXXX is the first six letters or numbers of the company name entered in part A2. Numbers count. Symbols and spaces do not.
• If the name has fewer than six letters or numbers, you fill the remaining places with the letter Q.
• A slash follows.
• YYYYY is exactly five letters or numbers that you choose.
• You must change YYYYY each time waste leaves those premises, so that every code is used only once for that A2 address.
• The official example is CJTILE/A0001.

Some consignments take an extra letter at the end, in the two grey boxes on the form. These are V for waste removed from ships, F for fly-tipped waste, D for waste moving under a consignee return derogation and P for continuous piped waste. Rejected loads and some consignee returns have letters of their own too. A rejected load is shown with an R after the code on its new note.

England: copies and how long to keep them

There are normally three copies. GOV.UK tells producers and holders to keep one copy and give two to the carrier, and the carrier takes those two to the consignee. If you have paid someone else to act as consignor, a copy comes to you as well.

Producers and holders must keep a register for three years at the premises that produced or stored the waste. The register includes consignment notes, consignee returns from the receiving business and related documents, such as carrier schedules and records of rejected loads. If a document is missing or wrong, you must keep a record of the missing information. Regulation 49 of the Hazardous Waste (England and Wales) Regulations 2005 sets the same period, running for as long as you hold the waste and for at least three years afterwards.

Carriers in England keep their records for one year, at their head office. Brokers and dealers must ask for copies of records and keep them for three years. Those periods are not interchangeable, so a carrier having thrown away its copy does not affect how long you have to keep yours.

Wales: premises registration still applies

Wales kept a registration scheme that England has dropped, and this is the main difference to plan for.

If your premises produce or store over 500 kg of hazardous waste a year, you must register with Natural Resources Wales every 12 months. Registration is free. You receive a six-character premises code.

Registered premises: the consignment note code is your premises code followed by five letters or numbers. For a premises code of ABC123, that gives ABC123/XXXXX, with the last five characters making the code unique. Enter the premises code in Part A3.

Exempt premises: you still need a consignment note whenever waste is collected and taken elsewhere. The code starts EXE followed by eight letters or numbers, such as EXEXXX/XXXXX, and "EXEMPT" goes in the premises code box.

Fly-tipped waste takes a FLY prefix and mobile service operators have their own arrangement, which is unlikely to concern most labs. A code must only be used once. In Wales too, producers, holders and consignors must keep records for at least three years, under regulation 49 of the Hazardous Waste (Wales) Regulations 2005.

Many schools will come in under the 500 kg threshold in a normal year, but a big clearance could push one over. Check before a clearance, not after it. If the waste goes from Wales to England, the England procedure largely applies on the receiving side, but the consignee must copy any rejection to Natural Resources Wales.

Scotland: special waste consignment notes

Scotland uses different words and different law: "special waste" under the Special Waste Regulations 1996. The form is a special waste consignment note, or SWCN.

The code comes from SEPA. All notes must have a unique number allocated by SEPA, made of two letters and a series of numbers, such as SA 1234567. Most movements use SA, which SEPA currently charges £15 for. SB codes, at £10, are only for consignments made up entirely of lead acid vehicle batteries. SC codes are free but restricted to certain carrier rounds, returns of out-of-specification materials to the original supplier and waste removed from a ship in a harbour area. You cannot make up a code yourself, as you would in England.

Pre-notification. Where pre-notification is required by SEPA's guidance on consigning special waste, it must be made at least three working days and no more than one month before the waste is removed. The usual way is to send SEPA a copy of the note with Sections A and B completed. This affects your collection date, so allow for it when you agree one.

Sections. The note runs A to E, like England's, with slightly different content. Section A gives the consignment details, Section B the waste with its six-digit code and hazard codes (HP1 to HP15), Section C the carrier, Section D the consignor and Section E the consignee.

Paper and copies. SEPA no longer supplies paper notes. It provides Excel and PDF versions, and it says Excel is its preferred format. The PDF version can be passed between parties electronically or printed to go with the waste. All parties must keep their own record, and the consignee sends a completed copy to SEPA. If you use a printed copy, make your own scan or photograph at the handover, since you may not otherwise get a confirmed copy that day.

Keeping records. Consignors and carriers keep their registers for not less than three years from the date of removal. In Scotland the carrier's period is three years, unlike in England.

A waste producer in Scotland must use the SWCN regardless of where in the UK the waste is going.

Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland has its own Hazardous Waste Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2005, and the Department issues the codes. DAERA says a note with a unique code must be used for each movement. Fees depend on the movement type: currently £24, or £10 for lead acid batteries, and some codes are free. A copy of the note must generally reach the Department at least 72 hours and no more than one month before removal, and DAERA prefers this by email. There are exceptions, such as later consignments in a series. DAERA's duty of care code says hazardous waste consignment notes must be kept for three years. DAERA's guide to consigning hazardous waste has the full detail.

We do not yet have a Northern Ireland version of our note, so any Northern Ireland collection is a manual enquiry.

Moving waste across a border

Your waste may be going further than you think. Waste leaving England for Scotland or Northern Ireland needs pre-notification at least 72 hours before the movement. Waste leaving Scotland needs an SWCN wherever it goes. The nation the waste starts in sets the rules for the note. A reputable carrier will know this, but the responsibility for the description stays with you.

Worked example: a school in England

St Anne's High School, an invented name, is clearing old stock at the end of the summer term. The code begins STANNE, the first six letters of the name once the apostrophe and spaces are removed. The school picks 24001 for its first collection that year. The code is STANNE/24001. The next collection uses a different ending.

Part A2 gives the school's name and address, and A3 the destination. Part B gives the process, such as "school science laboratory: disposal of surplus and out-of-date chemicals", and a SIC code. SIC 85310 covers general secondary education. Each chemical is then assessed separately. The Environment Agency's WM3 guidance gives the example of a crate holding three different laboratory chemicals, where each needs its own assessment. A line for waste acetone would read 16 05 06*, with its physical form, quantity in kilograms, the component with its concentration and HP3 for flammable. The carrier checks and signs Part C, the technician who hands over the waste signs Part D, and one copy goes into the school's register for three years.

Worked example: a hospital department

Northgate Hospital, also invented, is sending used xylene from histology. The code is NORTHG/H0127. Part B gives the process, "histology laboratory: tissue processing", and SIC 86101 for hospital activities. GOV.UK classifies hazardous laboratory chemicals from human healthcare under 18 01 06*, so that is the code for this line. The Environment Agency's guidance has more on the other chapter 18 entries. Solutions and used reagents must be described as they are now. A used xylene may contain things that fresh xylene does not, which is a reason to get the description from those doing the work. If the hospital were in Wales and registered, the code would start with its premises code, and if it were in Scotland, the code would come from SEPA.

Digital waste tracking

Digital waste tracking is being phased in. The government timeline has permitted receiving sites first, from October 2026 in England and Wales and January 2027 in Scotland and Northern Ireland, then carriers, brokers and dealers from October 2027. The Environment Agency has said consignment notes and returns continue alongside it for now. Keep completing your notes as usual, and watch GOV.UK for any change.

How we handle this on a collection

Box 4 arranges collection through registered hazardous waste carriers. When you accept a quote through the Chemical Register, a pre-filled note is produced in the right variant for England, Wales or Scotland, showing the carrier and consignee. You check it, the consignor signs on the day and the signed copy goes into your archive. You remain the producer or holder, so your description has to be right and your own copy needs keeping. The waste code finder can help you work out the code on each line.