Circular economy operators are increasingly required to report to a wide range of stakeholders, which requires companies to keep accurate records. The reform of the Waste Act added to the challenge – as more detailed reporting is required on material flows and recycling rates, traditional, manual reporting methods are becoming too cumbersome. Building a sufficiently accurate report in Excel alone requires a significant investment in terms of man-hours – often, for example, it can take several days, if not weeks, to complete the report in YLVA.
Circular economy operators’ digital leap – measure the whole journey of materials
In order to meet current and future reporting obligations with sufficient accuracy and maximum efficiency, the entire material flow from the generation of waste to final use must be increasingly measured. Simply put, everything that needs to be reported should be measured.
In practice, the recycling of materials involves three important elements, the measured data of which must be reported in one way or another: the origin of the waste, waste reception and treatment, and waste end-use. Waste streams are often treated in different ways, which significantly complicates reporting, and traditional material flow monitoring using a weighing program and Excel is a method no longer an accurate or efficient enough. As reporting requirements have become more stringent, the need for modern solutions has grown among circular economy operators.
When a recycling plant has a modern material flow management system in place that covers material flow from receipt to processing and end use, all information can be entered directly into a shared waste management system. This allows real-time monitoring of the flow of material, as well as the events inside the plant. The data collected from different activities are automatically aggregated to produce the reports you need – whether it’s for reporting in YLVA or other circular economy reporting – in an agile way.
A modern system also allows you to monitor many other important aspects of the plant’s operation, such as the storage time of waste piles exempt from waste tax, stock balances, and waste contracts and their validity periods. In addition, an electronic movement document linked to the receipts allows automatic data transfer to the SYKE's electronic movement document register.
Real-time data opens doors to even smarter reporting and management
When the entire flow of materials is measurable, verifiable and trackable, there are other significant benefits in addition to ease of reporting. Material flows provide the company with transparent, real-time information about the company’s entire business. This information not only serves the company’s management, but also stakeholders, partners and authorities. Data can also be processed using BI tools.
Transparent and accurate information strengthens the reliability of the company. You can be sure that the information shared with authorities and other stakeholders is proven to be correct. And if gaps in knowledge are discovered or problems are encountered along the way, every step of the way can be traced – so the journey of the material is not obscured or based on guesswork.
A modern material flow management solution therefore also brings significant value to the operational management of the business. Digital solutions developed for the circular economy not only bring cost savings, but also more meaningful work and less stress through more efficient, automated data management.
Is reporting in YLVA relevant?
We’ve also compiled our top tips for smoother and more efficient reporting in YLVA. The tips in this guide will optimally help you to reduce the workload of reporting in YLVA by one third.
Pinja offers the potential of digitalization to improve the performance of energy and circular economy businesses – throughout their lifecycle. If you want a partner who understands industry change, check out our material flow management solution: Flow by Pinja – material flow management and tracking system
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