Defra to offer £1.4M for waste tracking competition

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs is offering five organisations a chance to acquire funding of up to £80,000 in order to develop a digital solution for tracking waste movement from treatment to end destination.

The funding is part of a two-phase competition launched by the Department as a Small Business Research Initiative (SBRI) competition.

Applications are now open to all organisations no matter how large, small or sector they’re in. 100% funding will be awarded to successful applicants as well as additional support towards field testing their prototypes up to 12 months. Closing date for bidding is 18 July 2018.

One of the main objectives behind the initiative is to prevent waste crime, which cost England an estimated £604 million in 2015, according to the Department.

A statement from DEFRA said: “The current situation is of a fragmented set of policies, regulation and processes, and IT systems across the UK. Businesses deal with multiple duplicated processes and regulatory requirements, generating millions of pieces of paper or electronic records, yet still there are significant data gaps.

“Defra’s challenge is to use digital technology to record and track individual movements of waste through the economy. We aim to know more about the types and amounts of waste generated, what is done to it, and where it ends up. An innovative solution could help maximise the value we extract from our resources and boost innovation and productivity whilst minimising damage to the environment.”

The full details of the competition and application process can be accessed by visiting the direct.gov website.