Applications are now being invited for a Defra funding programme designed to release £30 million to encourage the take up of new and emerging technologies to deal with biodegradable municipal waste (BMW).

The Demonstrator Programme is one of two Defra funding programmes put in place to help England to meet the diversion targets for BMW set out in the Landfill Directive. It is estimated that by 2010, depending on the rate of growth of this waste stream, between 8.4 and 14.4 million tonnes of BMW will need to be diverted if England is to avoid EU penalties of up to £0.5m per day.

Expressions of interest for the £30 million Demonstrator Programme are invited from the 1st March 2004 and an official launch will take place on 18th March in London. The programme is designed to provide support for pilot plants demonstrating the technical and commercial feasibility of technologies not already planned or in use in England. RPS Group plc, one of Europe's leading environmental consultancies, has been appointed as the project management contractor to manage the bidding process and supervise the successful demonstrator projects.

The Technologies Advisory Committee (TAC), which will assess the bids against the criteria it has determined and advise Defra, is seeking to support at least four different types of technology and to have up to 10 demonstrator plants initiated within the next 2 years. Financial support will be in the form of grants or co-investment aid and will be determined on a case by case basis