National operator waste returns
How to complete waste or materials facility returns, and deadlines for submission.
Applies to England
Operators with an environmental permit must complete waste returns to tell the Environment Agency about the waste they have received or removed from their site.
From April 2019, operators with a permit authorising waste activities must also include details about the technically competent manager at their site.
The Environment Agency uses this information to:
- monitor a site’s compliance with its environmental permit conditions
- collect national statistics about waste
Types of waste to include in your waste return
Your waste return should include the waste received and removed under your permit, including waste transfer and treatment processes. For example, any interceptor or sealed drainage waste that is created as part of your process.
If you have not formally accepted waste, or if you have quarantined waste and relocated it to another site, do not include this waste on your waste return.
Do not include other waste from your site which is not produced as part of your permitted activities, such as canteen waste, office waste or carpark interceptor waste. Follow the rules on disposing of business or commercial waste and hazardous waste for this.
Deadlines for submitting waste returns
Quarterly returns
| Quarters | Deadline for return |
|---|---|
| 1 January to 31 March | 30 April |
| 1 April to 30 June | 31 July |
| 1 July to 30 September | 31 October |
| 1 October to 31 December | 31 January |
Yearly returns
| Annual return period | Deadline for return |
|---|---|
| 1 January to 31 December | 31 January of the following year |
How to complete your waste return
Spreadsheet for email returns
Fill in the waste returns spreadsheet for email returns.
You may need to zip large files so that you can email them successfully.
Email national-operator-returns@environment-agency.gov.uk:
- to submit your spreadsheet
- if you have any problems emailing your return
Paper form
Alternatively, you can contact the Environment Agency to ask for a paper form. Call 03708 506 506 (see call charges) or email national-operator-returns@environment-agency.gov.uk for this.
Report the correct waste codes for your site
Your permit has a list of the European Waste Catalogue (EWC) codes your site can accept.
See the waste classification technical guidance for more information.
Disposal and recovery (D and R) codes
See the list of D and R codes in Annexes 1 and 2 of the Directive of the waste and repealing certain Directives.
Privacy
The national operator waste returns privacy notice explains:
- what data we need to collect
- what we do with the data
- how long we hold the data
- your rights
Updates to this page
Last updated 18 December 2024 + show all updates
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Added information on types of waste to include in your waste return. Removed reference to the waste returns GOR spreadsheet, as it has been withdrawn.
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We have removed the section on waste conversion factors and replaced it with a section on how to report the correct waste codes for your site.
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Removed the section Waste values picklist as this is duplicated within the actual returns spreadsheets.
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Removed the section for Material Facilities (MF) returns. Some waste operators have been submitting MF returns by mistake. We contact MF direct for their returns.
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Added a link to the waste returns privacy notice and to the list of disposal and recovery codes.
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Removed the disposal and recovery flowchart as it’s out of date. You can email us to request guidance on codes.
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First published.