Progress update on the development of the Hazardous Waste Program Digital Reporting Service

Published on: Dec 2, 2021 Go back to the Latest News Archive

RPRA continues to make good progress developing the digital reporting service for Ontario’s Hazardous Waste Program (HWP). The digital reporting service will replace the current Hazardous Waste Information Network (HWIN) and provide an online registry portal for waste activity reporting and an electronic manifesting solution, set to launch January 1, 2023. A mobile application is also being developed as part of this work.

To date, the development process has focused on:

  • refining technical requirements to ensure the digital reporting service will enable the regulated community to meet their regulatory reporting requirements;
  • understanding users’ experience with the current HWIN system and current business processes for manifesting to help develop the design and functionality of the new service; and
  • understanding users’ needs to support the adoption of the new digital reporting service.

To do this, we are working in close coordination with the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks, our technology partners, and industry stakeholders.

The next stage of the process, which will begin this month, is to design and build the registry portal. To learn more about the overall development process, visit our HWP webpage.

Below is a summary of our development activities to date:

  • Industry Stakeholder Design and Development Working Group sessions
    A cross-section of industry representatives was invited to participate in RPRA’s Industry Stakeholder Design and Development Working Group. To date, we have held seven working group sessions to gain insight into the user experience of the existing HWIN and better understand business requirements to inform the design and development of the digital reporting service. We will continue to engage the working group throughout the development of the digital reporting service.
  • Usability testing
    Working group members had the opportunity to participate in usability testing, where they were led through scenarios using prototypes of the first phase of the new registry portal. Users provided direct feedback on portal screen mockups, features and functionality to RPRA and our technical vendors.
  • Broader stakeholder engagement
    To refine our understanding of how to support the adoption of the digital reporting service by the regulated community, RPRA conducted several one-on-one interviews with generators, carriers and receivers operating in Ontario. Other organizations such as Transport Canada and the US Environmental Protection Agency, which have experience with digital reporting of hazardous waste and regulate hazardous waste tracking and reporting, were also consulted. RPRA also spoke to a range of industry and ministry system users to understand their current experience with HWIN to obtain ideas for improvement.

    RPRA also conducted a survey of all generators, carriers and receivers to better understand their current experience registering wastes in HWIN and completing manifests. The survey resulted in more than 700 responses.

Stakeholder input is key to building a system that meets the needs of its users. Our working group sessions, usability testing, stakeholder interviews and surveys have uncovered key user insights that will help guide our approach in designing and constructing the new digital reporting service.