The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) have confirmed that they plan to introduce mandatory digital waste tracking across the UK from April 2025.
The plans were originally outlined in the Resources and Waste Strategy for England and consulted on back in January 2022, and will enable the Government to have information about where and how waste is created, who is handling it, what is done to it, and where it ends up.
When operational the scheme will:
Benefits of the change
Mandatory digital waste tracking will help businesses and the Government move towards a circular economy by joining up and digitising currently fragmented systems to provide a single comprehensive way of tracking the amount and type of waste being produced and where it ends up.
This will also support the effective regulation of waste, transforming the way environmental regulators monitor compliance, prioritise regulatory activities and help prevent waste crime, including fly tipping, deliberate misclassification of waste, illegal waste exports and the operation of illegal waste sites. It will also facilitate a more level playing field for legitimate waste operators.
It forms part of the UK Government’s wider plans to introduce smarter regulation to grow the economy. Smarter regulation is about improving regulation and guidance for businesses across the board, ensuring it is as clear, proportionate and does not unnecessarily impose burdens on businesses which restrict innovation and growth.
UK wide initiative
Digital waste tracking will apply across the whole of the UK - England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland
Although waste policy is a devolved matter, the UK Government and devolved administrations have agreed to work together to introduce a UK-wide waste tracking service to provide a single system across the UK. The environmental regulators in all four nations are also partners in the project and actively involved in the development of the service.
What happens next?
Provisions exist in the Environment Act 2021, which amend the Environmental Protection Act 1990, to provide powers to introduce mandatory digital waste tracking regulations. These regulations will place requirements on waste controllers and waste authorities to enter certain information related to the tracking of waste into the waste tracking service.
A range of amendments will also be issued, including legislation relating to the waste duty of care, hazardous waste, transfrontier shipments of waste, waste permitting and licensing. The waste duty of care codes of practice will also be revised.
Mandatory digital waste tracking will come into force from April 2025 – with the digital waste tracking service being publicly available to users on a voluntary basis in 2024.
