New funding structure could appear under Strategy Unit report

A DEFRA spokesman said today that no decisions as to when the funding could be allocated have been made yet, although he confirmed that an announcement is expected to appear “towards the end of November or the beginning of December.”

The publication of the Strategy Unit report is expected to coincide with the publication of the Chancellor’s pre-budget Autumn statement. Both the report and the statement are expected towards the end of November.

There are indications that the Strategy Unit have looked at the existing waste management and recycling funding and may suggest that in the future it forms part of a bigger fund for waste management and recycling.

Actions proposed through the SU report could also favour a new funding structure for recycling and waste management via the use of landfill tax credits.

There is increasing speculation that category c money could be administered in a new way. Under category c and cc spending must fund “projects that encourage sustainable waste management through research, education, or information dissemination” and “projects that encourage the development of products from waste or markets for recycled products through research, education or information dissemination.”