If you move hazardous waste in England or Wales, every movement needs a consignment note. The “template” most carriers are looking for is the official HWCN01 form published by the Environment Agency,the legally required format for a hazardous waste consignment note. This guide explains what the template covers, where to get it, and a faster way to produce one with digital consignment note software.
There is no informal “blank template” you can safely invent. The consignment note must follow the official HWCN01 structure under the Hazardous Waste (England and Wales) Regulations 2005. Using a non-compliant form is a criminal offence.
What the template covers: the five parts
The HWCN01 consignment note template has five parts (A to E). A different person fills in each one, at a different stage of the waste move:
- Part A,Notification details: the consignor’s details, a description of the waste, the process that produced it, and the quantity.
- Part B,Description of the waste: the European Waste Catalogue (EWC) code, physical form, chemical composition, and hazard codes.
- Part C,Carrier’s certificate: the carrier’s registration details and certification that they collected the waste.
- Part D,Consignor’s certificate: the producer’s declaration that the information is correct.
- Part E,Consignee’s certificate: the receiving site’s confirmation of what they accepted, including any quantity discrepancy.
For a field-by-field walkthrough, see our guide on how to fill out a consignment note.
Where to get the official template
The blank HWCN01 form is published by the Environment Agency on GOV.UK. You can print it and complete it by hand for each movement,but a printed template means re-keying the same carrier, producer and site details every time, risking illegible handwriting, and storing boxes of paper for the statutory three years.
The Environment Agency’s digital waste tracking programme under the Environment Act 2021 is moving the industry away from paper templates entirely. Going digital now means your records are ready when the mandate lands.
A faster alternative: generate it, don’t fill it in
Instead of printing a blank template, Consigns generates a fully compliant HWCN01 consignment note from the job details. Your saved carrier and site information is reused, required fields are validated before completion, the customer signs on screen on-site, and a finished PDF is produced and stored for the full three-year period automatically.
Want to see the format first? Our free consignment note generator builds a sample in your browser as you type. No sign-up needed.
No re-keying, no illegible forms, no filing cabinet. See pricing, or read about the common mistakes waste carriers make with consignment notes.