MS, Deputy First Minister and Cabinet
Secretary for Climate Change and Rural Affairs: Today, I have
laid The Digital Waste Tracking (Wales) Regulations
2026 to implement the first phase of the Digital Waste
Tracking System (DWTS) in Wales.
Subject to Senedd approval of the Regulations, they will
establish an electronic (digital) system for tracking movements
of controlled waste. The Regulations place mandatory
requirements on operators of permitted sites where controlled
waste is received for management to record information about that
waste and ensure that information is entered into the digital
system using approved software. The Regulations exclude
commercial waste received at Household Waste Recycling Centres
(HWRCs) as they are planned for inclusion in new regulations
during the second phase.
The DWTS will be UK-wide, with each nation making its own but
closely aligned regulations.
The measures in these Regulations are aimed at reducing waste
crime and supporting the Welsh Government's ambitions for a
circular economy. They also deliver a commitment in
our Beyond Recycling Strategy to
introduce a mandatory electronic waste tracking system to track
where wastes end up.
The UK and Devolved Governments held a public consultation on the
proposals in 2022. Engagement has continued with
stakeholders via user research and established industry working
groups as the development of the digital service continues, and
this will inform future statutory instruments as requirements are
expanded to other industry operators. Guidance for
operators who are affected by these Regulations will be
published, and will be kept under review and updated when
necessary.
The waste industry includes a large number and complex array of
operators. These work across the UK in a wide variety of
sectors with varying levels of digital capability. To build
a stable, effective and user-friendly service it needs to be
developed incrementally. This starts with the
creation of a firm foundation, which delivers some of the
intended benefits, with additional aspects then being added as we
learn from testing the core elements of the service in order to
move towards a more complete end-to-end DWTS. Following
assessment of the options and international best practice, the
first phase to be delivered by these Regulations focuses on waste
receiving sites inputting data about waste they receive.
A second phase, planned for delivery through future regulations,
will see the digital tracking of waste received at HWRCs and
waste movements from sites where the waste is produced through to
waste receiving sites, including while the waste is in transport.
The Regulations and
associated Explanatory Memorandum and Regulatory Impact
Assessment can be accessed here.
I look forward to engaging with Members of the Senedd during the
Plenary debate on the Regulations.
