Waste Transfer Notes FAQs - Biffa
  • What is a Waste Transfer Note?

    A Waste Transfer Note (WTN) is a document required by law (the Environmental Protection Act (1990) and subsequent regulations) to allow us to collect waste from your site and to show you are passing your waste on to a business which has the appropriate licence to collect waste. It must include enough information about you, the type of waste being produced, whether it has been pre-treated (separated from other waste, for example by removing recyclable material from it) and how it is contained so that we can ensure it is handled and recycled, recovered or disposed of safely. It also includes information about Biffa and our license number.

    You can be asked to present your WTN's to the Environment Agency or your local Council at any time, so it is important you have a copy of it and that it is kept up to date. You are also required by law to keep your Waste Transfer Note for a period of three years.

    If you have recently signed a WTN, you will have opted in to our auto renewal process. This means you do not need to sign the document every year; we will send you the current details we hold for your business, if nothing has changed you do not need to respond and we will then issue you a WTN for the next year.

    A new WTN is not a new contract, and does not affect the terms of your current contract with Biffa.

  • How do I sign my Waste Transfer Note?

    If you have recently signed a Waste Transfer Note (WTN) you will have opted in to our auto renewal process. This means you do not need to sign the document every year; we will send you the current details we hold for your business, if nothing has changed you do not need to respond and we will then issue you a WTN for the next year.

    If you have an older contract, you may be asked to manually sign your WTN. You will receive an email explaining how to this on myBiffa.

    • Log in to / register for myBiffa
    • On your myBiffa homepage, you will see a WTN renewal alert
    • Click the alert and follow the on-screen instructions to sign your WTN
  • Can I see my old Waste Transfer Notes?

    Yes, these can be found on myBiffa:

    • Log in to myBiffa 
    • Select ‘Services’ from the menu
    • Locate the service you want to see the Waste Transfer Note (WTN) for - if you have a large number of services, you may find it easier to use search and/or filter
    • Click the service once you have found it, and scroll down to the bottom of the page - here you will find WTNs for the previous three years

    Note: Your first year's WTN was provided with your contract, so this is not available in myBiffa. If you have misplaced this, or need WTNs older than three years, please contact us on 0800 601 601 or services@biffa.co.uk

  • What is a pre-treatment charge?

    A charge applied to your invoices if you have not declared on your Waste Transfer Note that you segregate your recycling on site. We charge this at £1 per cubic metre (so for an 1100L bin this would be £1.10) to cover the cost of us manually sorting through your waste and ensuring as much as possible can be taken to dedicated recycling facilities and diverted from landfill.

  • What is a Waste Transfer Note compliance charge?
    You will see a Waste Transfer Note (WTN) compliance charge applied to your invoices. This can be charged either annually or weekly. The charge you pay is to help cover the administration costs of producing the document, ensuring it is completed correctly, and for the three years storage.
If you can't find the answer to your question on this page, contact us on 0800 601 601 or at services@biffa.co.uk.