The lucky 10 include two councils in the North East – Alnwick district council and North Tyneside council – as well as two councils in the Midlands, South Kesteven district council and Northamptonshire county council. Leeds city council will also receive money from Defra.
Five of the councils that will receive grants are from the South of England – Bracknell forest borough council, Hastings borough council, Kennet district council, Lewes district council, Runnymede borough council.
Defra has given the go ahead to the councils so that they can “take the lead” on recycling and divert household waste from landfill, it said. The funds have come from money left over from earlier rounds of the National Waste Minimisation Fund that was not spent by the grant winners. A further 1.5 million is still available from the under-spent funds, but Defra has yet to decide on how it will be used.
Announcing the new grants, environment minister Elliot Morley said: “This 8 million will help 10 more councils take the lead on recycling and sustainable waste management, adding to the 336 projects already set up through the fund.”
Grants
Major grants announced today include 1,455,000 for Northamptonshire county council, which is to be used for new kerbside recycling collections, a new bulking up facility and civic amenity site developments.
North Tyneside council will receive 1,229,805 to provide dry recycling collections for high rise properties as well as new green waste collections and on-street recycling containers.
Leeds city council is to be given 978,302 to provide new kerbside recycling collections, which will collect materials including glass. The Lincolnshire district of South Kesteven has been awarded 948,189 to introduce a new green waste collection system.
The other council awards will go to new collection systems for dry recyclables and green waste, including kerbside systems, bring bank systems and services for flats.
The full grants awarded were as follows:
- Alnwick District Council – 167,685
- Bracknell Forest Borough Council – 661,290
- Hastings Borough Council – 406,250
- Kennet District Council – 165,272
- Leeds City Council – 978,302
- Lewes District Council – 235,633
- Northamptonshire County Council – 1,455,000
- North Tyneside Council – 1,229,805
- Runnymede Borough Council – 225,720
- South Kesteven District Council – 948,189
Target
The funding programmes are part of the government's attempt to increase the rate of household waste recycling in England to 25% by 2005/06.
Mr Morley said: “Nearly 80% of the 28 million tonnes of municipal waste we produce each year is still sent to landfill sites, but attitudes are beginning to change: there is new emphasis on minimisation, re-use and recycling, and the more help we can provide, the more chance we have on building on this good start.”
Defra has been awarding additional funding for local authority recycling through the Waste Minimisation and Recycling Fund since 2002. The fund has so far distributed 223.8 million, the Department has said, but there will be no further bidding rounds.
A new Waste Management Performance Fund is to be introduced in 2005-06, which will provide non-ringfenced rewards for councils with good recycling performances.
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