Defra Receipt of Waste spreadsheet checker Check a digital waste tracking workbook for missing details and formatting errors. Download supported fixes and correct flagged cells before uploading to Defra.
- Free to use
- No account needed
- Correct and check again
Check a spreadsheet
Check your completed workbook
Use Defra’s Receipt of Waste .xlsx template with its sheets and layout unchanged. Up to 2 MB.
For non-hazardous waste only. Hazardous waste, persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and consignment-note cases cannot be checked here.
Your spreadsheet is used only to run this check. ComplyOnSite does not keep a copy.
Need the spreadsheet first?
Download Defra’s Receipt of Waste template (.xlsx)
Fill in the waste movement and waste item sheets using your records, then return here to check the saved file.
Read Defra’s completion and upload guidance (opens in a new tab)
This is not the Environment Agency waste-tonnage returns spreadsheet or a waste transfer note.
What the checker tells you
Every finding says what is wrong, what to do about it, and exactly where to look in your own file. These are real examples, in the checker’s own words.
Waste movements sheet · Means of transport
The means of transport is not an official value.
Choose an exact value from the workbook list.
When the right value is beyond doubt — “road” for “Road” — the checker fixes it for you and says so.
Waste items sheet · EWC code
An EWC code is absent from Defra’s workbook reference list.
Check the classification and choose a code from the workbook reference sheet.
This one needs a fact only you hold, so the checker names the exact cell and leaves it to you.
Waste movements sheet · Receiving site name
A value required by the Defra workbook is missing.
Enter the missing value in the cell shown in the finding using the source record.
This one needs a fact only you hold, so the checker names the exact cell and leaves it to you.
Movement MOVE-002
This movement has no linked waste item.
Add an item for this movement or correct an existing item reference.
This one needs a fact only you hold, so the checker names the exact cell and leaves it to you.
ComplyOnSite only ever rewrites a value when the original and the fix mean exactly the same thing and Defra’s published lists allow just one form of it. Everything else is reported, never guessed.
Which spreadsheet can I check?
The spreadsheet it is built for
Defra’s Receipt of Waste spreadsheet — the one you download from the Report receipt of waste service and fill in with the loads your site takes in. One file, with its own sheets, as many movements and receiving sites as you need, for one organisation.
ComplyOnSite compares your file with an unchanged copy of that official spreadsheet. A renamed sheet or a rebuilt template is refused rather than quietly corrected.
What it checks
- Movement details: the reference, date and time received, receiving site address and postcode, and the receiver authorisation number.
- Carrier and transport: registration number or a valid reason for not having one, means of transport, and vehicle registration for road movements.
- Waste items: EWC codes, physical form, containers, weights and units, and disposal or recovery allocations.
- The links between them: every movement has at least one waste item, every item points at a real movement, and references are not reused.
EWC codes, container types and disposal and recovery codes are checked against the lists inside Defra’s own spreadsheet, not a copy typed out by us.
What it cannot do for you
It cannot supply information only you hold — a permit number, a carrier registration, the real weight on the weighbridge ticket. Those come back as a named list for you to fix in your own file.
It does not handle hazardous waste, POPs or consignment-note cases. If your spreadsheet contains those, the checker stops and says so instead of guessing.
Correct, recheck and submit to Defra
Open your original file, or download the working copy if the checker made formatting fixes. Correct the listed cells using your records, save the workbook and choose it again above. When no problems remain, download the checked file and upload it to Defra’s service (opens in a new tab). ComplyOnSite does not submit anything for you or guarantee acceptance.
Questions people ask
- Does this send my spreadsheet to Defra?
- No. ComplyOnSite checks the spreadsheet and hands it back to you. Signing in to Defra’s service and uploading it stays your step, so nothing is reported without you.
- What happens to my spreadsheet?
- It is sent once, checked, and the result comes straight back. ComplyOnSite does not keep the file, its contents or your results.
- What does it fix on its own?
- Only formatting slips with exactly one right answer — stray spaces, “yes” instead of “Yes”, “road” instead of “Road”, “1.0” containers instead of “1”. It never invents a value, picks a permit, changes a weight or moves anything between rows.
- Can I check several sites at once?
- Yes, as long as they are on one spreadsheet for one organisation. The official workbook holds many movements and many receiving sites; check the file you are about to send.
- I have changed the spreadsheet. Will it still work?
- Use Defra’s official Excel .xlsx file and keep its sheets and layout unchanged. If the checker cannot verify the workbook structure, it stops and tells you rather than writing into the file.
- Why is there a 2 MB limit?
- Defra’s own upload service rejects spreadsheets over 2 MB, so a bigger file would fail there anyway. The official workbook stays far smaller than this, even with hundreds of movements in it.