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Projects Search Public Sector Clients & References Case Studies Websites Showcase	Client Department of Local Government and the Environment and Metano Container Ltd Project Department of Local Government and the Environment and Metano Container Ltd Website www.metanto.com Overview The introduction of new EU regulations required changes to the system of transporting waste oil from the Island to the UK. The new regulations meant that each batch of oil from each different producer had to be shipped in separate containers to make tracing its origin easier. Prior to this the Island's waste oil was shipped together to the UK in a single container. Because of the changes to the regulations, many businesses that produced waste oil on the Island found that it was too expensive too dispose of the oil via the UK whilst there was no alternative disposal method available to them locally. Client quote "We have been working with PDMS for some time and have always been impressed by their technical capabilities; so for both us and Government they were the obvious company to work with on this project." Ian Harland Managing Director, Metano Container Limited Technology to help the environment Background Metano Container Limited together with the Isle of Man Government's Department of Local Government and the Environment (DLGE) devised a scheme that would help waste oil producers dispose of their oil in a cost effective and environmentally friendly manner. Instead of each individual waste producer bearing the costs of licensing and transportation, the new scheme spreads the cost of disposing of waste oil amongst all of the Island's waste producers, making it an economically viable solution. After negotiations with the UK's Environment Agency, it was agreed that oil could be shipped by Metano in their Intermediate Bulk Containers (IBC's) under one set of documentation (Trans Frontier Shipment or TFS). It was decided that the most efficient way to administer the scheme would be via a website that managed the whole process and provided each of the different participants in the scheme with real time access to the information they required. Challenge As a supplier to both organisations, PDMS had a good working relationship with Metano and the Isle of Man Government and was their preferred partner to work with on the development of the new system. The challenge for the project team was to design and develop a system that could manage the whole process including documentation and provide real time status reports on container movements and waste recovery. The workings of the scheme are as follows - the waste oil producers hire Intermediate Bulk Containers (IBC's) from Metano to store waste oil. When these containers are full the producer informs the transporter company that that they are ready for collection. The transporter is then responsible for the collection of the container, replacing it with empties, shipping the oil to the UK and ensuring all the relevant paper work is managed appropriately. The service is provided on a one off rental fee basis and a daily hire charge. The system had to be designed as an extranet to allow different user types to access a common website to perform specific functions relating to the disposal of waste oil. The six user types on the system and there key requirements were identified as follows: Guest - unregistered members of the public who may be producers of waste oil, and who may wish to sign-up to the waste oil disposal service offered by Metano and the Isle of Man Government Producer - producer of waste oil (e.g. garage) registered on the system who utilises the disposal service. They are able to request delivery and collection of IBC's Transporter - the Island-based haulage company contracted by Metano to ship empty IBCs to Producers, and collect full IBCs from Producers and transport them to the recovery site. They need to arrange collections and deliveries and produce delivery notes and certificates Recoverer - the waste oil recovery and disposal company contracted by Metano to recover or dispose of waste oil brought to them by the Transporter in Metano's leased IBCs Metano / Notifier - The IBC leasing company, which also assumes the roles of waste oil shipment 'notifier' with respect to the TFS licence granted by the UK Environment Agency, and system administrator. They are responsible for the overall administration of the system and need to manage agreements and collections Regulator - both the UK Environment Agency and the Isle of Man Government, who will require unrestricted access to all data stored on the system Solution The system developed by PDMS allows each user access to the extranet and the functionality appropriate to that particular user. Each of the different users of the system have different permissions allowing them access to a home page which has been tailored to meet their particular requirements. Although the back office system which manages the processes is the most complex part of the website, considerable thought was given to ensuring that the front end website was as easy and intuitive to use as possible for all the users involved in the process. Waste oil producers can sign up to the scheme by registering on the website. Once Metano has accepted the registration request and the producer has read and agreed to the terms and conditions, they are assigned with a username and password and can also specify the number of IBCs they would like delivering initially. Producers can access the website to request IBCs to be collected and view information on pending collections and deliveries. They also have the facility to record any damage to the IBC's which have been delivered and once details of the damage have been entered into the system, a damage report is produced and automatically forwarded to Metano. The local transporter, who delivers and collects the IBC's to and from the waste oil producers, views an entirely different homepage when they log on to the system. The transporter has access to delivery note and collection note functions which displays a list of all of the delivery and collection requests with the current outstanding delivery and collection requests flagged. Each entry on the delivery and collection list has a link to the individual delivery note against which the transporter can record the unique identifier number for the IBC he is delivering or collecting and make any notes. A print facility on the page allows the transporter to quickly and easily print the delivery note or collection note. When an optimum number of IBC's have been collected, the transporter ships the them to a UK based recoverer and picks up the empty IBC's to take them back to the Isle of Man. When the IBC's are returned to the Island from the recoverer, the transporter uses the website to log the IBC's off hire so that they are returned to the IBC pool and are available for leasing. The role of the recoverer is to dispose of the waste that is bought to them by Metano from the Isle of Man in the IBC's. They are required by law to issue documentation relating to the waste oil. When the recover accesses the system they are presented with a list of shipments sent to them by Metano and those against which test results are still outstanding are be flagged. By clicking on one of the shipments they are taken to a details page for that shipment where they will enter the test results. The oil from each IBC is designated as either on or off spec. A tick in the on spec box generates a "recovery certificate" for the given IBC whilst a tick in the off spec box generates an e-mail to inform the Isle of Man Government and the Environment Agency of any off-spec oil. Both the on and off spec oil waste is disposed of but the producer may face additional charges if the oil is found to be off spec. The Isle of Man Government and the Environment Agency as regulators of the waste oil disposal scheme have full, read only access to all aspects of reporting, enabling them to monitor all activity on the system. Metano who have responsibility for operating the system have full access to all the functionality of the site and staff members can access the system with a unique username and password. The Metano home page contains a link to the many reports generated by the system which display both a monthly summary of various data and a current, real time report of information such as IBC on and off hire, IBC's collected, notification reports, damaged IBC's etc. The staff at Metano can also add or delete IBC's to the pool of IBC's on the Isle of Man For those waste oil producers without access to the Internet a telephone help line has been set up which is manned by an administrator at Metano who can register and request deliveries and collection on the site on their behalf. Technology The development team decided that the system would be best implemented using the latest Microsoft .NET Framework and Microsoft SQL Server 2000. This decision was made on the basis that the .NET framework allowed the system to be developed to meet the tight timescales whilst meeting all of the clients requirements in relation to performance. The content was generated using Active Server Pages .NET (ASP>.NET) using XML and XSL to dynamically generate the HTML web pages. The system has been built to be flexible and scalable enough to add additional waste streams at some future date if required Benefits The extranet and back office systems developed by PDMS seamlessly manages the entire waste oil scheme. It allows not only for the administration of the system but also produces and circulates all of the necessary documentation and e-mail notifications. The web based system saves all of the parties involved in the system, particularly the administrators Metano, considerable time and effort in managing the process. The scheme does not only benefit the waste oil producers but also the environment, providing an environmentally friendly way to dispose of potential pollutants. It is also an excellent example of how Internet technology can be used effectively and efficiently to administer and manage a service. The project recently won a national award for sustainable waste management at the Green Apple Awards held in London.

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Client

Department of Local Government and the Environment and Metano Container Ltd

Project

Department of Local Government and the Environment and Metano Container Ltd

Website

www.metanto.com

Overview

The introduction of new EU regulations required changes to the system of transporting waste oil from the Island to the UK. The new regulations meant that each batch of oil from each different producer had to be shipped in separate containers to make tracing its origin easier. Prior to this the Island's waste oil was shipped together to the UK in a single container. Because of the changes to the regulations, many businesses that produced waste oil on the Island found that it was too expensive too dispose of the oil via the UK whilst there was no alternative disposal method available to them locally.

Client quote

"We have been working with PDMS for some time and have always been impressed by their technical capabilities; so for both us and Government they were the obvious company to work with on this project."

Ian Harland

Managing Director, Metano Container Limited

Technology to help the environment

Background

Waste management Metano Container Limited together with the Isle of Man Government's Department of Local Government and the Environment (DLGE) devised a scheme that would help waste oil producers dispose of their oil in a cost effective and environmentally friendly manner. Instead of each individual waste producer bearing the costs of licensing and transportation, the new scheme spreads the cost of disposing of waste oil amongst all of the Island's waste producers, making it an economically viable solution. After negotiations with the UK's Environment Agency, it was agreed that oil could be shipped by Metano in their Intermediate Bulk Containers (IBC's) under one set of documentation (Trans Frontier Shipment or TFS).

It was decided that the most efficient way to administer the scheme would be via a website that managed the whole process and provided each of the different participants in the scheme with real time access to the information they required.

Challenge

As a supplier to both organisations, PDMS had a good working relationship with Metano and the Isle of Man Government and was their preferred partner to work with on the development of the new system.

The challenge for the project team was to design and develop a system that could manage the whole process including documentation and provide real time status reports on container movements and waste recovery.

The workings of the scheme are as follows - the waste oil producers hire Intermediate Bulk Containers (IBC's) from Metano to store waste oil. When these containers are full the producer informs the transporter company that that they are ready for collection. The transporter is then responsible for the collection of the container, replacing it with empties, shipping the oil to the UK and ensuring all the relevant paper work is managed appropriately. The service is provided on a one off rental fee basis and a daily hire charge.

The system had to be designed as an extranet to allow different user types to access a common website to perform specific functions relating to the disposal of waste oil. The six user types on the system and there key requirements were identified as follows:

Guest - unregistered members of the public who may be producers of waste oil, and who may wish to sign-up to the waste oil disposal service offered by Metano and the Isle of Man Government
Producer - producer of waste oil (e.g. garage) registered on the system who utilises the disposal service. They are able to request delivery and collection of IBC's
Transporter - the Island-based haulage company contracted by Metano to ship empty IBCs to Producers, and collect full IBCs from Producers and transport them to the recovery site. They need to arrange collections and deliveries and produce delivery notes and certificates
Recoverer - the waste oil recovery and disposal company contracted by Metano to recover or dispose of waste oil brought to them by the Transporter in Metano's leased IBCs
Metano / Notifier - The IBC leasing company, which also assumes the roles of waste oil shipment 'notifier' with respect to the TFS licence granted by the UK Environment Agency, and system administrator. They are responsible for the overall administration of the system and need to manage agreements and collections
Regulator - both the UK Environment Agency and the Isle of Man Government, who will require unrestricted access to all data stored on the system

Solution

The system developed by PDMS allows each user access to the extranet and the functionality appropriate to that particular user. Each of the different users of the system have different permissions allowing them access to a home page which has been tailored to meet their particular requirements.

Although the back office system which manages the processes is the most complex part of the website, considerable thought was given to ensuring that the front end website was as easy and intuitive to use as possible for all the users involved in the process.

Waste oil producers can sign up to the scheme by registering on the website. Once Metano has accepted the registration request and the producer has read and agreed to the terms and conditions, they are assigned with a username and password and can also specify the number of IBCs they would like delivering initially. Producers can access the website to request IBCs to be collected and view information on pending collections and deliveries. They also have the facility to record any damage to the IBC's which have been delivered and once details of the damage have been entered into the system, a damage report is produced and automatically forwarded to Metano.

The local transporter, who delivers and collects the IBC's to and from the waste oil producers, views an entirely different homepage when they log on to the system. The transporter has access to delivery note and collection note functions which displays a list of all of the delivery and collection requests with the current outstanding delivery and collection requests flagged. Each entry on the delivery and collection list has a link to the individual delivery note against which the transporter can record the unique identifier number for the IBC he is delivering or collecting and make any notes. A print facility on the page allows the transporter to quickly and easily print the delivery note or collection note.

When an optimum number of IBC's have been collected, the transporter ships the them to a UK based recoverer and picks up the empty IBC's to take them back to the Isle of Man. When the IBC's are returned to the Island from the recoverer, the transporter uses the website to log the IBC's off hire so that they are returned to the IBC pool and are available for leasing.

The role of the recoverer is to dispose of the waste that is bought to them by Metano from the Isle of Man in the IBC's. They are required by law to issue documentation relating to the waste oil. When the recover accesses the system they are presented with a list of shipments sent to them by Metano and those against which test results are still outstanding are be flagged. By clicking on one of the shipments they are taken to a details page for that shipment where they will enter the test results. The oil from each IBC is designated as either on or off spec. A tick in the on spec box generates a "recovery certificate" for the given IBC whilst a tick in the off spec box generates an e-mail to inform the Isle of Man Government and the Environment Agency of any off-spec oil. Both the on and off spec oil waste is disposed of but the producer may face additional charges if the oil is found to be off spec.

The Isle of Man Government and the Environment Agency as regulators of the waste oil disposal scheme have full, read only access to all aspects of reporting, enabling them to monitor all activity on the system.

Metano who have responsibility for operating the system have full access to all the functionality of the site and staff members can access the system with a unique username and password. The Metano home page contains a link to the many reports generated by the system which display both a monthly summary of various data and a current, real time report of information such as IBC on and off hire, IBC's collected, notification reports, damaged IBC's etc. The staff at Metano can also add or delete IBC's to the pool of IBC's on the Isle of Man

For those waste oil producers without access to the Internet a telephone help line has been set up which is manned by an administrator at Metano who can register and request deliveries and collection on the site on their behalf.

Technology

The development team decided that the system would be best implemented using the latest Microsoft .NET Framework and Microsoft SQL Server 2000. This decision was made on the basis that the .NET framework allowed the system to be developed to meet the tight timescales whilst meeting all of the clients requirements in relation to performance. The content was generated using Active Server Pages .NET (ASP>.NET) using XML and XSL to dynamically generate the HTML web pages.

The system has been built to be flexible and scalable enough to add additional waste streams at some future date if required

Benefits

The extranet and back office systems developed by PDMS seamlessly manages the entire waste oil scheme. It allows not only for the administration of the system but also produces and circulates all of the necessary documentation and e-mail notifications. The web based system saves all of the parties involved in the system, particularly the administrators Metano, considerable time and effort in managing the process.

The scheme does not only benefit the waste oil producers but also the environment, providing an environmentally friendly way to dispose of potential pollutants. It is also an excellent example of how Internet technology can be used effectively and efficiently to administer and manage a service.

The project recently won a national award for sustainable waste management at the Green Apple Awards held in London.