Waste Transfer Chains & Held Waste
Understand chain gaps, held waste alerts, and how to close open chains with a follow-on transfer note.
What is a waste transfer chain?
A waste transfer chain tracks the movement of a specific load of waste through multiple transfers. When a carrier collects waste (Collection / Stored), the note is complete but the waste is still in the carrier's custody — this is "held waste". The chain is open until the carrier deposits the waste at a licensed facility with a second note (Deposit / Direct), which closes the chain.
Chain status values
Each note has a chain_status field. "open" means the waste has been collected but not yet deposited — the waste is held in your custody. "closed" means the follow-on deposit note has been created and linked, completing the chain. Notes without a chain are not tracked for chain status.
The Waste Held stat card
The dashboard shows a "Waste Held" stat card that counts all complete notes with chain_status = open. When this is non-zero, the card is highlighted in red with an animated pulse dot. A Dashboard Alert also appears below the stat cards: "Waste transfer chains have open gaps — action needed".
Finding open chain gaps
Click the "Waste Held" stat card or the chain gap alert to navigate to the Notes list. Open chain notes are flagged in the list view. Click any flagged note to open its detail page where you can see the chain status and create the follow-on deposit note.
Closing a chain
To close an open chain, create a new Deposit (Direct) note for the same waste. When you link the deposit note to the collection note (by selecting it in the chain field), QWTN updates the collection note's chain_status to "closed". The Waste Held count on the dashboard decreases accordingly.
Deferred party notes
A separate alert covers deferred-party notes: "Notes are awaiting a deferred party to be identified". These are notes where Section B or Section C was set to "Confirm later". To resolve them, open the note in the editor and fill in the missing party's details.