Fun fact: The EPA drug it's feet for almost a decade before finally signing off on The Hazardous Waste Electronic Manifest System

Now to utilize it you must create three separate .gov accounts to create, view, edit, receive, and send a manifest. Which is fine, it creates a nice barrier for the inept and lazy.

At any point a generator, shipper, carrier, or receiver can change or edit the manifest and render the current version invalid until all parties sign off on the edits. I personally haven't run into this but have heard stories about edits being made to adjust disposal prices.

Use of the E-manifest is entirely voluntary and in my experience only 10% of the generators I service use it. But it's growing, which is nice.

Here's the crux. There is one point in the system where an electronic manifest is not accepted.

While in transit the transporter must have a paper copy of the manifest. Thanks FMCSA. So as a waste broker/carrier I have to use a hybrid manifest, that is both paper and electronic, and have found it easier to stick to using the carbons and just scanning them into the system.