Edoc to have huge impact on waste industry

The electronic duty of care project (edoc) is being developed by the Environment Agency in partnership with the Chartered Institution of Wastes Management (CIWM), Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA), Reconomy, Welsh Government and Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP).

The system seeks to modernise the way waste movements are recorded. According to a survey carried out by the Agency, as many as 72% of waste operators questioned were keen to use edoc.

Under UK law, all businesses have a Duty of Care to ensure they produce, store, transport and dispose of their waste without harming the environment. One of their responsibilities is to complete Waste Transfer Notes (WTN) every time waste is passed from one party to another and keep them for at least two years.

The introduction of edoc will provide an alternative to the exchange of paper Waste Transfer Notes (WTNs), and it is hoped that the system will reduce the amount of time and money that is spent on retrieving and filing the records produced manually, as well as cutting paper use and storage needs.

Impact

Barry Dennis, director general of the Environmental Services Association (ESA), the trade body representing the waste management sector, said: The new edoc system is set to have a huge impact in the waste industry it overhauls the current paper-based system and transfers it online which will make the process more efficient effective.

ESA has supported the development of edoc, working closely with the project team throughout the systems development to ensure it is easy to use and as fit for purpose as possible. We will be supporting the launch and implementation of edoc and helping to promote the use of edoc across the waste industry.

Use of edoc will not be mandatory, but the Agency hopes that the benefits it offers will encourage businesses to use the service. It is estimated that the digitised WTN system could save businesses up to 5million per year, as well as saving the government up to 1 million.

Chris Deed, edoc programme manager at the Environment Agency, said: With edoc, we are aiming to provide a modem means of recording waste transfers that reduces the administrative burden on businesses. We surveyed the six sectors for which UK waste compliance has particular impact and found the majority of businesses were keen to take up the new online edoc system. Its a simple system to use, with so many benefits, and we want to help every business who takes its environmental responsibilities seriously to make the change to edoc.

Meanwhile, Defra has this week revealed plans to consult on reducing the administrative burden on businesses to complete and store WTNs, due for launch in summer 2013 (see letsrecycle.com story).