To manage recycling of everything from organics, mattresses, drink bottles and e-waste, California is conducting market research for an enterprise IT system to consolidate and administer over three dozen material and waste management applications. Currently, California’s Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery, or CalRecycle, has 37 siloed recycling applications, some of which are nearly 20 years old, paper based and inefficient.
The Covered Electronic Waste Information System claims process, for example, requires staff to spend 40% of their time on data entry, fixing errors and document preparation, according to a Nov. 14 request for information. Even so, the multiple CalRecycle systems average 20,000 to 30,000 account logins per month and process approximately $1.5 billion worth of transactions annually – and activity is expected to grow by 35%.
The CalRecycle Integrated Information System, or CRIIS, project would replace the individual applications – all of which have unique software but overlapping and duplicate functions – with one enterprisewide system that can track, regulate and monitor recyclables in support of a circular-economy approach to materials management.