Local authorities in the UK have access to new funding to help them communicate their recycling and waste minimisation messages. The Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) is launching its new Local Communications Fund on December 8th to provide direct support for local communications initiatives throughout England.

Under DEFRA's Waste Implementation Programme, £30M funding has been made available to WRAP for communications and awareness work directly focused on increasing participation in recycling and waste minimisation initiatives. A very significant proportion of the total budget has been allocated to the new Fund, which is targeted at communications projects delivered at local level, primarily by local authorities.

"Raising public awareness about waste and recycling is essential if local authorities are to secure increased participation and meet their recycling targets," says WRAP Chief Executive Jennie Price. "We need to harness the public's enthusiasm for the principle of recycling, and convert it into action. Householders need to know exactly what they can do to contribute to increasing recycling, and this is a message which can only be delivered at a local level, as it needs to be tailored to the recycling infrastructure which they can access."

The new fund will be split into three tranches:
up to £1.7M to support the continuation or expansion of existing local communications schemes that have had a demonstrable effect on household participation in recycling or well developed campaigns that can be ready to be rolled out in the New Year. The competitive process to allocate this funding will begin on 8 December.
up to £8.5M for communications programmes directly supporting new recycling infrastructure funded by DEFRA under its national Waste Minimisation and Recycling Fund. The allocation of this funding will be aligned with the process for evaluating bids to DEFRA's Fund, and a further announcement will be made on this very shortly.
up to £8.5M to fund other communications activity delivered at local or regional level. This element of the fund is intended to assist those authorities which have not received infrastructure funding through the current DEFRA process, but which nevertheless have an opportunity to use communications to boost recycling, for example by increasing participation or yield rates in existing schemes. The competitive process to allocate this tranche of funding will begin early in 2004.
The purpose of the competitive processes is to identify those proposals which represent best value for money, offer the best prospects of increasing active participation by the public in recycling and waste minimisation schemes, and are most appropriate for delivery at a local level.

Further details including eligibility, evaluation criteria, timetable, application forms and guidance notes for the initial competition for the £1.7M will be available from 8th December on the WRAP website at www.wrap.org.uk or can be obtained by contacting WRAP's fund management team on 0161 874 3663 (email wraplcf@enviros.com)