Industry
Waste Management

Governments award edoc contract

By Libby Peake | 16 September 2015 | Add a Comment

Environmental consultancy Resource Futures has been awarded a two-year contract with the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra), the Scottish Government, the Welsh Government and the Northern Ireland Executive to administer the edoc online waste transfer reporting system across the UK.

edoc was launched in January 2014 as a free-to-use online alternative to traditional paper-based waste transfer notes. The system aims to save businesses time, effort and money through streamlining the process of information exchange between parties and putting it entirely into the digital realm.

Through the new contract, announced yesterday (15 September), Resource Futures will be responsible for duties including providing a secretariat for edoc’s administration and management, verifying data, and giving training and support for businesses and organisations.

‘Bringing innovation to the initiative’

Steve Lee, CEO of the Chartered Institution of Wastes Management (CIWM) and member of edoc’s Technical Advisory Group, commented: “As a representative of the edoc technical advisory group, we are taking a close interest in its direction, and are pleased with the work Resource Futures has done so far in bringing innovation to the initiative. We will support Resource Futures in their endeavours and working with them to realise the full potential of this vital data tool.”

Resource Futures’ Bernie Thomas said: “Resource Futures is looking forward to the challenge ahead. We are extremely proud to have been selected to manage this project on behalf of the four governments, and recognise the significant opportunity that edoc provides. The system does away with out-dated paper waste transfer notes. It saves time, effort and money and fulfils the legal duty of care for waste which all producers of waste in the UK have. Smart search and reporting functions within edoc are beginning to transform the data into useful business management information.”

edoc background

The edoc system was launched as part of the previous coalition government’s ‘Red Tape Challenge’, and developed under a four-year project co-financed by the European Commission (through LIFE+ funding).

 It allows businesses to use the online portal to:

  • create waste transfer notes (WTNs) and season tickets and share them between the parties involved;
  • review, edit, sign and store WTNs securely online;
  • view a permanent log of all actions performed on a WTN, by whom, and when; and
  • use a tracking feature for transfers involving more than one movement. 

When it was launched, the Environment Agency (EA) alleged that it had the potential to move 80 per cent of waste transfer records online.

Uptake was slower than desired at first, though, leading CIWM to call on government to make edoc mandatory for all businesses, with Chief Executive Steve Lee commenting that “the majority of businesses in the UK would need to be using the system” to gain “much more accurate data on the waste that is being produced” in the UK.

A survey undertaken ahead of the scheme’s launch found that 72 per cent of waste operators were in favour of the move online and more than 1,000 businesses had signed up to the system as of April 2014, a figure that is believed to have risen steadily.

Six months after its launch, though, the EA had to make an effort to dispel myths it was commonly encountering about the system, including that: businesses must pay to use the system; paper records are still necessary; and anyone can access data supplied to edoc.

Learn more about the edoc system.