Speaking at the annual Community Recycling Network conference in London, environment minister Elliot Morley said: “I am very pleased to announce the provision of 4 million in new funding for the community sector over the next two years.”
The fund comes from the Waste Implementation Programme's existing budget and splits into 1.5m for 2004/05 and 2.5m for 2005/06.
A spokeswoman for Defra told letsrecycle.com: “It will need to open for bids as quickly as possible. But we want the community sector to be involved in decisions about how the money should be targeted and who should be eligible. We plan to begin consulting community sector bodies within the next 3-4 weeks.”
She explained that the money is to support “innovatory community waste sector projects”, especially those working with local authorities.
Defra is also planning to offer business, information and legal support to community recyclers, Mr Morley said.
Delegates at the conference welcomed the announcement of the fund and the additional support. But some said it is still not enough to plug the funding gap left by reforms to the Landfill Tax Credit Scheme last year.
Ben Metz, director of London CRN, said: “We are grateful for the 4 million but compared to the money we were getting from the Landfill Tax Credit Scheme it's just a drop in the ocean.”
Mr Metz encouraged community recycling groups to apply for grants from the Treasury's new 125 million Future Builders fund (see Future Builders website). This fund, which opens for its first round of bids on July 5, 2004, aims to provide capital investment in the voluntary and community sector to improve public services.
Recycling credits
In his speech to community recyclers, Mr Morley said that in Defra's review of the recycling credits financial system, re-use schemes should get more recognition for their efforts.
Mr Morley said: “We want to encourage local authorities and the community sector to work together. This could involve enhancing the current system of paying recycling credits to the recycling sector to encourage re-use. The changes would not only recognise the role of community projects in recycling but also in social and economic development.”
Mr Morley also urged community groups to bid for local authority contracts, teaming up with the private sector where necessary. He said Defra is in the initial stages of discussing a proposed tripartite partnership of a local authority, community group and a private waste management company for a waste Private Finance Initiative (PFI) project.
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