Matthew Gawn
As part of the Resources & Waste Strategy for England and the Environment Act 2021, the Mandatory Digital Waste Tracking (MDWT) initiative aims to set up a single digital service in which to track waste resources in real time through the economy. DEFRA are working alongside a number of other devolved and government agencies across the UK to deploy the standards based on existing government digital and IT framework standards.
A user panel has been engaged with from 2019 now comprising of 1,200 members from producers, operators, carriers and brokers, exporters and trade associations. Making significant progress in the design of a digital service through interviews, surveys and usability testing. The service is going to be implemented for use in April 2025 and for use on a voluntary basis from Autumn 2024.
What ISB Global Know
ISB Global has been in touch directly with the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA) and stakeholder trade associations to try to ascertain the technical architecture of the service. This is to be able to support our customers, the transfer of data, development of an API for automated data transfer, to be able to pose any scenarios not covered by the usability testing and to understand any innovation, deployment and analysis opportunities that may become present.
Schema & Architecture
As a technology provider to the industry, ISB Global has mapped the prospective data transfer required from Waste & Recycling One’s Work Order via an Application Programming Interface (API) to the MDWT web portal. This includes a comprehensive workflow of waste resources movements and user interactions that includes a producer/generator, carrier/broker, disposal/recycling site and interaction with the MDWT to collect data, confirm movement/transfer and verify data from destination and recycling point.
Mapping Exercise
The mapping exercise has taken place by ISB Global functional and technical teams with the details that DEFRA has provided to date. ISB Global has now engaged with our Waste & Recycling One user base to ensure a ‘readiness audit’ to incorporate the additional steps necessary in the process, development of WR1 and change management to collect, transfer and confirm interaction with the Mandatory Digital Waste Tracking service. This includes automated transfer of data via an API via the Waste & Recycling One Work Order, subsequent publishing of that data to waste resource movement stakeholders, the necessary external reporting and internal intelligence analysis and any other innovative opportunities that maybe present from the new business processes.
The Waste & Recycling One (WR1) Work Order
Key to the ease of the development of the integrated connection to the MDWT digital service is the WR1 Work Order. This contains a comprehensive range of important information that allows for the automated generation of planning, instruction, execution and confirmation stages for the movement of waste resource materials. The extension and enhancement of integrated processes is made additionally simpler by the architecture of a completely integrated application suite and the use of WR1’s native mobile and web (aPaaS) low code platform OutSystems. Serving as a toolset to be able to “integrate to anything”.
Comparison to Separate Applications
These two components of the leading Waste & Recycling One ‘technical stack’, considered the most advanced waste management software application in the world, makes the initial gathering of data incredibly easy – data for upload and download to interact with the MDWT is all held in one place – the WR1 Work Order. Subsequently, the API that is built using WR1’s OutSystems low code platform can be developed incredibly quickly using a range of existing technical standards. This ensures easy and complete readiness with the ability for continual improvement and any necessary legislative or scenario updates as the new policy driven process embeds. ISB Global is also convinced that through change management and client roadmap advances the new processes will present several opportunities for further development and digitalisation.
Making Tax Digital
ISB Global already has significant experience in digitising extended processes required by new legislation having built the Making Tax Digital process and API. The WR1 HMRC approved Making Tax Digital Application allows for 3 different types of the upload and download of data to ensure ongoing compliance with the digital service previously introduced. Again, this was made a great deal easier by the accurate, automated and integrated WR1 and an API built in OutSystems to integrate to the service ensuring the necessary data is uploaded correctly and automatically with minimal manual intervention ensuring accurate and immediate transfer of data.
ISB Global Client ‘Readiness Audit’
ISB Global now has comprehensive workshops taking place with its Waste & Recycling One clients. Following an agile/SDLC and hybrid project deployment methodology the engagements will form a set of workshops designed to ensure readiness for ISB Global’s WR1 user base. By working through high level analysis, blueprints, development, user training, continual improvement and innovation phases will ensure that ISB Global’s clients are functionally and technically ready for deployment, use and interaction with the MDWT.
The API has been planned and development underway with information known to date from DEFRA. With any other outlying information and/or scenarios presented by the client base that may cause unforeseen challenges or present innovative opportunities for further extension and enhancement of process. ISB Global hopes to receive a formal schema soon to start voluntary use with customers that feel comfortable in doing so.
Waste & Recycling One (WR1) & OutSystems
Waste & Recycling One is known globally as the world’s most advanced waste management software. This is due to the extensive coverage of waste logistics, transport and recycling materials business processes built from over 20 years’ experience alongside the global industry. Waste & Recycling One is deployed on the OutSystems low code platform, ensuring functionality from the core business processes can easily be extended and integrated innovatively to stakeholder applications, while also making use of existing, new and emerging technologies.
Due to the low code the application suite can be developed in half the time of traditional coding environments utilising state of the art user interfaces for maximum user engagement and productivity. WR1 is also comprehensively integrated to SAP (ERP) and Amazon Web Services (AWS) ensuring accurate, automated and continual finance and accounting transactions while being deployed anywhere in the world with instant access, no latency, top of the range processing power, comprehensive security and storage.
Building an API
ISB Global’s development team has started on the development of the WR1 MDWT API and are poised to start the agile input from the variety of workshops with ISB Global’s customers. This will allow for numerous mapping exercises, scenario testing, technical interactions and load testing. Feedback and communication with the ISB Global and Client teams will allow for early refinement of data, process, technical and functional architecture, prospective interaction with the interfaces and additional process and fields required in Waste & Recycling One.
Innovations & Opportunities
Working in this formatted, comprehensive manner with our clients, WR1 and the Outsystems low code architecture will also allow us to uncover any new opportunities to refine process, add to tracking capabilities, development of new workflows and user experience and the introduction of new and emerging technologies designed to increase accuracy, automation and intelligence.
ISB Global are looking forward to the long overdue deployment of this policy and hope this is the start of subsequent policies to progress further digital initiatives in waste resource management, recycling and the circular economy.
