The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) is to invest up to £400,000 in projects that use digital technology to record and track the movement of waste through the economy.

The investment is part of the government’s GovTech Catalyst, which aims to encourage businesses to come up with smart solutions to public sector challenges.

Better management of data and processes

In the last report on total waste generation, the UK was estimated to have generated more than 200 million tonnes in a year.

Processes for disposing of this waste are sometimes fragmented and often duplicated. Defra wants to know more about the waste being generated, how it is handled and disposed. This will maximise value from resources, improve UK productivity and minimise damage to the environment.

Funding for the competition is under SBRI (the Small Business Research Initiative), which aims to bring together government and businesses to find innovative solutions to public sector challenges