New scrap metal laws in 2026: what is actually changing

Search for new scrap metal laws and you get a pile of different things: rules that are live, rules that are still proposals, and schemes that have nothing to do with running a yard. This page sorts them into those three buckets, so you can tell what applies to you today, what is worth watching, and what you can ignore for now.

What applies right now: digital waste tracking

This is the live one. Since 1 October 2026, scrap metal yards in England and Wales that hold an environmental permit to receive waste have had to report every incoming load through the Digital Waste Tracking Service. Scrap metal is controlled waste the moment it is discarded, and if you are permitted to receive it, you are a waste receiving site. Our guide for metal recycling sites walks through how that applies to a typical yard.

The practical shape of the duty: record each load within two working days of it arriving, with the waste description, the EWC code, the weight and who brought it in. Missing records can lead to a fixed monetary penalty of £1,000, a variable monetary penalty of an unlimited amount, or prosecution with an unlimited fine. Scotland and Northern Ireland start reporting in January 2027, and waste carriers follow in October 2027.

What is not law yet: the exemption removals

The other change that gets called a new law is the reform of the waste exemptions. The government's response confirmed that three exemptions will be removed: T9 (recovering scrap metal), U16 (using depolluted end-of-life vehicles for parts) and T8 (mechanically treating end-of-life tyres), with transition periods that start when the regulations do. A further group, including T4 and T12, will be tightened rather than removed.

None of it has taken effect. The amending regulations have not been made and no start date has been announced, so today nothing changes and nothing is being breached. What matters now is the direction: scrap metal recovery without a permit is on its way out, and a site that converts from an exemption to a permit becomes a permitted receiving site, which brings the digital waste tracking duty with it. The full detail, including which exemptions are tightening, is in our reform explainer.

Three things that get mixed in, and what they really are

Simpler Recycling. This is a real change, but it is about how workplaces separate their own waste, not about how yards are regulated. Rules came into force across England on 31 March 2025 and every business, charity and public sector organisation has to separate dry recyclables, food waste and residual waste before collection. Micro-firms with fewer than ten full-time equivalent employees have until 31 March 2027. If you run a yard, this affects your own premises as a business, not your waste acceptance duty.

Packaging producer responsibility. Frequently named in the same breath as new metal rules, and frequently misunderstood. Extended producer responsibility for packaging is a funding scheme that sits with producers and obligated companies, paying for the collection and recycling of packaging. It is not a new duty on receiving sites, though recyclers will see it in the background of who collects what.

The dealer licence rules. Not new at all, but worth restating, because search results blur them together. In England and Wales, the scrap metal dealer licence comes from your local authority under the Scrap Metal Dealers Act 2013: a site licence or a collector's licence, valid for three years, with cash payments for scrap banned. None of that changes under digital waste tracking. The licence covers how you trade; the waste tracking duty covers what you record. You need to keep both plates spinning.

What to do about it now

• Confirm whether you are a permitted receiving site. If you are, the reporting duty applies to every load that crosses your gate.
• Register with DEFRA if you have not already and get your API code: the register guide covers how.
• Record every incoming load, including part loads and material you pay for. Two working days is the window.
• Check carrier registrations as a matter of course. England, Wales and Scotland each hold their own register, and a registration with one of them is valid across all three nations. Northern Ireland keeps a separate register, so a carrier registered in Great Britain is not automatically registered to transport waste in Northern Ireland.
• Watch the exemptions page rather than acting early. The removals are coming, but there is nothing to apply for yet.

If you run an ATF or a breaker's yard as well, the vehicle side has its own guide: digital waste tracking for ATFs and vehicle breakers covers the end-of-life vehicle workflow end to end.