The recycling and waste management sector has undergone many changes throughout the last few decades, especially with the welcome addition of technology to the industry. Some streets will still hear the familiar foghorn blasting from a flatbed truck, with a passenger ready to jump out and pick up scrap from the side of the road, but this could soon be a thing of the past. The scrap metal and waste management industry is going digital, and it will change the way waste is to be processed and transported.
New Digital Waste Tracking System
The Digital Waste Tracking (DWT) system will introduce new regulations that is set to change how metal recyclers, and the wider waste management industry as a whole, record, report and transport waste. The new system, which is being rolled out across the sector in stages, is mandatory and will come into full effect by October 2026.
The DWT system will require all businesses within the sector to scrap traditional paper-based tracking methods in favour of the new digital process. Every company who holds a permit or licence to receive waste will be required by the government to record and report any movement in or out of the business on the new Digital Waste Tracking service. The digital waste transfer notes, or WTNs, will record the movements of processed waste or scrap metal, from the creation of consignment through to the end location, where it is either destroyed, melted down, recycled, or exported.
Why go digital
The aim of introducing the new digital tracking measures is to reduce waste crime, improve traceability across the sector and keep things simple for audit purposes. Digital Waste Tracking will play a key part in the tighter regulations for waste management services, by replacing old, fragmented and often inconsistent systems with one easy-to-use digital interface. Once mandatory this Autumn, any site that receives waste will have to comply with the new regulations by using the digital system, or risk enforcement action.
While it might not make the headlines often, waste crime in the UK costs the economy an estimated £1billion each year. Waste crime involves the illegal dumping, burning or unauthorised processing of waste, which often leaves communities to deal with the pollution and long-term environmental impacts.
These issues have been able to fly under the radar with the current paper-based tracking and reporting methods, which make it easier for scrap metal and waste to be misdescribed or lost entirely. The current system gives criminals who are operating fraudulent waste removal businesses scope to continue their illegal activities without investigation. The new Digital Waste Tracking system will hopefully limit the number of waste crime incidents by giving authorities the ability to trace who and where the waste came from, and prosecute accordingly.
The Digital Waste Tracking service aims to create a tangible record of where waste has been collected, where it is going, and who is responsible for it. With these records in place, it will be much easier for responsible business owners in the waste management and scrap metal industry to simplify their systems to comply with the new regulations.
Having every operator in the industry using the system will level the playing field and allow legitimate scrap metal and household waste management teams to continue on as normal, with the added benefit of helping to reduce waste crime. With such widespread usage across the UK, it is hoped that any business or operator who is found to not be fulfilling their legal duties or committing waste crime will now be easier to detect and investigated.
Don’t forget, the team at Singleton’s are always on hand to help answer any of your questions about any of our scrap metal services!
Back to all blog posts