The Chartered Institution of Wastes Management (CIWM) has suggested that the United Kingdom government seriously considers making mandatory online system for recording waste transfers – edoc, which was jointly developed by the CIWM and the other edoc partners; Environment Agency in partnership with the waste sector and government bodies from Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
It has only been six months since the launch of the edoc system & already the CIWM have made this confident statement in its written submission to the recent Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (EFRA) Committee into waste management.
The CIWM believe that the edoc system can bring the following benefits whilst enabling analysis of effective data on the production of non-hazardous waste:
- Allow a waste transfer note (WTN) to be created online and to share it between the parties involved
- Review, edit, sign and store electronic WTNs securely online
- See a log of all actions performed on a WTN, by whom, and when
- Create a season ticket with the option to include multiple waste types, containers and frequencies
- Use a simple tracking feature for transfers involving more than one movement
All this, the CIWM believe will mean businesses across the UK can benefit and do away with outdated paper waste transfer notes, saving them time, effort and money. Although the use of the edoc database and associated costs are not fully characterised in the CIWM’s submission.
Certainly, edoc is a step in the right direction as paper-based WTN are an inefficient way to record waste movements in an increasingly connected world but do the costs stack up for businesses.
Further details on the edoc system can be found at http://edoconline.co.uk/
Have you say on this issue – I welcome your opinions on this development.