THE UK government-backed Advisory Committee on Packaging (ACP), with financial support from industry and government, plus administrative support from the Packaging Federation, has embarked on a project to “bring the data generated by the UK Packaging Regulations into the 21st century”.
Solution 7, an Oxford-based software house, developed the IT software and architecture to enable data to be sent electronically to the Environment Agencies from accredited reprocessors and exporters, direct registrants and compliance schemes.
The project implementation, led by chair of the ACP Data Task Force Phil Conran, is being introduced in phases. Phase 1, the reprocessor module, was launched on time and on budget in April in time for the Quarter 1 submissions, with over 50% being sent through the system.
John Turner, ACP chair, said: “The payback for industry and government in being able to manage and control the key data efficiently and on a timely basis will become plainly evident in the first year of operation. There will be a marked improvement over the current paper-based methods of handling and assimilating data.”
Following analysis and assessment of this phase, the project team will develop the producer module in time for the 2006 returns to be submitted to the Agencies next year.
The system is being funded by contributions from 14 industry sponsors – mainly reprocessors, as well as WRAP, the Environment Agencies and the Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA). The interim website for managing data collection and the development of the systems is: www.npwd.org.uk