UK fund helps tech firms develop waste tracking technologies

United Kingdom-based Anthesis, Dsposal, International Synergies Limited, PragmatIC and Topolytics have been awarded up to £80,000 each to create and develop technology to track waste, from its source to final disposal.

The U.K. announced the GovTech Catalyst £20 million fund, which supports organizations in developing and testing emerging technology, after a review into organized waste crime commissioned by Environment Secretary Michael Gove found a lack of digital record keeping in the waste industry, which allows organizations to mislabel waste to avoid landfill tax and illegal exports.

“We want to move towards a more circular economy, where waste is valued as a resource and reused,” Environment Minister Thérèse Coffey says in a release announcing the winners. “We are also committed to cracking down on waste criminals who exploit the system.”

Anthesis, a global sustainability consultancy, is developing a smart waste tracking system called Vastum. The system can be used by clients, ranging from small startups to global corporations, to record waste movements across the U.K. The software will help track movements of waste to understand its final destination, but also appeal to investors interested in moving waste back into the circular economy, the company says.

Dsposal, a clean-tech startup, will invest in its KnoWaste project, which includes a free waste app that can be used by organizations in the waste sector, as well as an open data standard for waste. The company says the database will “connect the separate systems currently in use, providing the regulators with the oversight they need and the industry with the insight it requires” to achieve U.K.’s zero avoidable waste by 2050 goal.

International Synergies Limited hopes to leverage data from its current System for Waste Enhancement, Evaluation and Tracking (SWEET) project using artificial intelligence. The project will record and track individual waste movement, maximize the value extracted from resources, support the elimination of waste crime through real time data, validate collectors and receivers against registered lists and capture incoming and outgoing international waste movements through audit processes. 

The company says the project will also explore the development of an application programming interface (API) to enable the sharing of data, as well as financial models for system sustainability.

PragmatIC plans to create flexible integrated circuits (FlexICs) to attach to Fast-Moving Consumer Goods products, which each will have a unique ID database that can be accessed and updated throughout the product’s life.

Topolytics, a data analytics business that maps the generation and movement of commercial and industrial waste globally, wants to build location intelligence within the U.K. waste data system to benefit waste producers in the industry.

At the end of a three-month feasibility stage, up to two projects will be selected to receive additional funding of up to £500,000 each to develop and field test a prototype in a second phase of GovTech Catalyst, expected to open later this year.

“The GovTech Catalyst is a great example of collaborative working between the Government and innovative startups,” Minister for Implementation Oliver Dowden says. “The effective management of waste will help improve the environment and boost this emerging industry, clearly highlighting how our investment in smarter technologies is crucial to tackling public sector challenges.”