Recycling Action Yorkshire has been set up to fund innovative ideas for recycling in the county. The organisation, which has been described as a “regional WRAP” by new programme director Andrew Hartley, has been set up with 1.9 million in funding from Yorkshire Forward and the European Regional Development Fund.
” We are not bound by weight, so we are able to much more selective over the projects which we can choose to fund “
– Andrew Hartley, RAY
Unlike its national counterpart WRAP – the Waste and Resources Action Programme – Yorkshire Forward's RAY has set its target aims based on the reduction of carbon emissions that projects can achieve.
Mr Hartley believes that this will help them encompass more diverse projects. He said: “We are not bound by weight, so we are able to much more selective over the projects which we can choose to fund.”
Projects
RAY will be providing funding for projects specifically aimed at improving recycling in the Yorkshire region in four different areas – plastic recycling, glass recycling, organic waste processing and in procurement activities.
Mr Hartley, who was formerly director of strategy and communications for glass trade association British Glass, said: “In Yorkshire we have 11 of the 14 glass plants in the country, we have a large number of plastic reprocessors who are struggling to get hold of material and there is a big gap between our organic collections and where we need to be in order to cover our landfill allowance targets.
“We will be looking to improve and work with all these areas and will be looking to fund projects which will help increase yields in these areas,” he added.
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The programme will work with existing groups and through new projects, and as well as cutting greenhouse gases aims to create new jobs and attract increased private sector investment.
RAY will be putting calls out for expressions of interest by the end of 2006 and it hopes to be in a position to begin working with programmes early next year. “Over the next two and a half years we would hope to take several projects through to their conclusion,” said Mr Hartley.
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