Notes from the build, and the rules you have to build around.
We write about the things clients actually ask us in the first call. At the moment most of those questions are about Defra digital waste tracking, so that is where most of these start.
Defra Digital Waste Tracking: what receiving sites have to do, and the route nobody is selling you
Permitted waste receiving sites come into scope in October 2026, carriers and brokers follow in Autumn 2027. Every software vendor will offer you their platform on a monthly subscription. There is a third option, and Defra documents it publicly.
Read the full guide- Both phases and both deadlines
- API, CSV or portal, and which fits you
- Subscribing versus integrating, costed
- What your own software has to be able to do
API, CSV or the portal: which submission route should you actually use?
Defra supports three ways to get waste data in. One of them quietly creates a second job for someone on your team every single day. Here is how to pick.
Integrating it yourself versus subscribing: the real cost over three years
A per-site monthly fee looks small on the first invoice. Across four sites and three years it is a different number. We put both routes side by side.
Your software provider is not on Defra's list. What now?
You do not have to abandon a system your team knows. The obligation sits with the operator, not with the software, and that changes the options.
Phase 2: what carriers, brokers and dealers should be doing now
Autumn 2027 sounds far away. If your movements data lives in three places today, it is not. What to sort out in the meantime.
What getting a Defra integration live actually involves
Building against the specification is the first half. Data mapping and failure handling are where the time really goes.
Flutter or React Native: how we actually choose on a client project
We ship both. The decision is rarely about the framework and almost always about what the app has to touch on the device.
What a connected platform really costs to run in year one
Servers, stores, payment fees, push, translation. The line items nobody puts in the proposal, with the numbers we see across our own builds.