Digital Waste Tracking Service to crack down on waste crime

All permitted waste consignments in the country are to be digitally tracked in real time under new government plans to tackle waste crime.

The ‘Digital Waste Tracking’ service will require businesses to keep a contemporaneous audit trail of the waste they manage, and is set to replace the current largely paper-based system. This comes as waste crime is costing the UK economy £1 billion a year.

The proposal is part of the government’s wider Waste Crime Action Plan, and seeks to improve the reliability of waste data as well as the speed at which it is provided. This would allow law enforcement bodies to build cases against waste criminals more effectively while reducing bureaucracy for waste producers and legitimate operators.

Mary Creagh, Minister for Nature, said that the current system is “not fit for purpose” in dealing with waste crime, which she called “a wicked business”.

She said: “Through our Waste Crime Action Plan, we are tightening the net on the waste cowboys.”

The service is expected to become compulsory for permitted waste receiving sites in England, Northern Ireland and Wales from October 2026, and for those in Scotland in January 2027.

The rollout will be phased, beginning with 12,000 sites in phase one and eventually expanding to more than 100,000 operators. A voluntary beta test will begin on 28 April, allowing permitted waste receiving sites and software developers to test and refine the system ahead of the official rollout.

Jacob Hayler, Executive Director of the Environmental Services Association, said: “Implemented successfully, Digital Waste Tracking should make it easier for waste producers to be sure that they are dealing with legitimate operators, while also providing useful and timely data to regulators to help them crack down on [waste] cowboys.

“ESA urges operators across the industry to engage with the beta testing phase, and we look forward to working with Government to refine and successfully roll out the process ahead of mandatory adoption.”

Other proposals put forward under the Waste Crime Action Plan include a system wherein fly-tippers get points on their licence, expanded police-style powers for Environment Agency enforcers, and an additional £45 million in funding for the agency over the next three years.