Ever wondered where your waste goes after it gets picked up? Well, from next year onwards, you’ll be able to find out far more about its journey thanks to mandatory waste tracking being applied across the United Kingdom.
What is digital waste tracking?
As things stand, there is no centralised method of tracking where all the waste created in the UK goes, with the government and private companies using different ways of keeping tabs on where it goes.
To counter this, mandatory digital waste tracking will be put in place across the country in 2025, meaning all data will be stored in one database, with users logging into the same system and following the same set of rules.
This will affect all types of household, commercial and industrial waste, regardless of whether it falls under the hazardous or non-hazardous categories.
It will start being tracked from the place where it was produced, and will be updated:
· If/when it is passed to a different organisation or person
· If/when moved between sites operated by the same organisation
· If/when moved between different organisations on a same site
There will be exceptions, however, as household waste collected by local authorities will start being tracked once it has arrived at a waste receiving site, while waste deposited by an individual at a recycling centre will only be tracked once it leaves the centre itself.
When is digital waste tracking coming into place in the UK?
Originally set for 2024, it was pushed back by a year, with the latest update from October 2023 revealing that digital waste tracking will be mandatory from April 2025 onwards.
This means that everyone will have to be compliant by then, although the digital waste tracking system has been available to companies wanting to start using it early on a voluntary basis throughout 2024.
Who decided to create mandatory digital waste tracking?
The idea of a centralised tracing system for waste initially came as part of the previous Conservative government’s’ ‘Resources and waste strategy for England’, initially published in 2018.
It was then made clear by Defra (Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs) that no matter the outcome of the 2024 general election, the timeline would not change, meaning everything is still in place for an April 2025 start.
Why is digital waste tracking being put in place?
With so many companies handling data about waste in different ways, keeping track of where it all went was difficult, allowing for a lot of waste crime to take place.
For example, a survey from 2023 undertaken by the Environment Agency estimated that 18% of all waste had been ‘criminally managed’ at some point.
The aim of mandatory digital waste tracking is to reduce this, as it will make it a lot harder to fly-tip, mislabel waste or illegally export it.
Moving onto nicer reasons, implementing a mandatory way to follow where everything we throw away goes will help us determine what really happens to it once it leaves its original premises.
Information telling you if it’s being recycled, recovered or simply disposed of will then be available, making it easier to work out if improvements are needed and what actions need to be taken to achieve these.
Not only that, but both businesses (waste producers) and waste management companies, such as First Mile, will be able to see exactly how much waste is produced and the way in which it is managed.
This will allow for changes to be made, if necessary, to improve sustainability, giving all parts of the chain a chance to work together towards a circular economy.
Another benefit is that all data will be stored in the same place and in the same manner, meaning documents such as Waste Transfer Notes and hazardous waste consignment notes will be a thing of the past!
Where do I sign up for digital waste tracking?
The government is currently working on a web-based service available across all types of devices, with no need to download software or purchase any licences.
However, there will be a service charge to use the portal, which is expected to be an annual flat fee of around £20/year.
Once the fee is paid and the system is accessed, users will be able create a digital record of the planned waste movement ahead of time.
They can then track a one-off waste movement or multiple in bulk, with each given its own unique identifier to help with traceability.
These will need to be confirmed within two days of the waste’s collection and receipt to ensure all the data is accurate.
