In recognition that the current paper-based Waste Transfer Note (WTN) system for recording non-hazardous waste movements is heavily bureaucratic, the edoc project has been led by the Environment Agency in partnership with the CIWM, Reconomy, WRAP, Northern Ireland Environment Agency and Welsh Government, and has the full support of Defra and the Scottish Environment Protection Agency.
Now the project has delivered on its promise. It is a free online system that will save UK businesses time and money by transforming the way they record the waste they produce. Electronic duty of care – or “edoc” – is expected to save organisations across the country a combined total of £8m a year by providing a modern electronic alternative to burdensome paperwork.
All UK businesses are required to produce waste transfer notes, which describe their waste and who they transfer the waste to. edoc aims to replace the current paper-based system, which requires around 50m waste transfer notes to be stored in filing cabinets across the UK. These need to be kept for a minimum of two years – and around 23m are produced every year.
edoc enables businesses to create, share, review, edit, sign and store waste transfer notes via a secure and easy-to-use online portal, eradicating the need for paper copies.
The system will help businesses keep on top of their waste transfer notes by sending email alerts to users when they need to review, edit or sign off the online documents. As well as the online portal, edoc has been built to enable businesses to link it with their existing waste management systems directly.
The data being collected will also enable national governments to build a comprehensive view of the waste being produced by UK businesses, saving a potential £1m a year of public money spent on business waste surveys. The project partners are urging every UK business that produces or handles business waste to adopt the online option.
edoc comes at a time when the government is focused on to improving outdated, burdensome or over-complicated regulations and meets on of the environmental themes within the UK Government’s Red Tape Challenge.
It will be interesting to see the take-up by waste management companies and business over the coming months.
Further details of about edoc can be found at http://bit.ly/1jWrYbo