Funding is being made available from WRAP's 8 million Waste Minimisation Innovation Fund, and follows on from last week's “Courtauld Commitment”, which saw 13 major retailers pledging to cut the amount of waste their products generate in household bins (see letsrecycle.com story).
” We are looking for projects that will help us meet the objectives of the recently-signed Courtauld Commitment.“
– Richard Swanell, WRAP
The Waste and Resources Action Programme believes about half of the household waste that ultimately ends up in UK landfills every year originates from purchases from supermarkets and convenience stores. This equates to as much as 24 million tonnes, it said, including five million tonnes of food waste.
The Innovation Fund has been set up to “help kick-start new thinking in packaging design”, and has so far seen ten contracts signed with a further eight contracts now being finalised. WRAP claims these contracts have the potential to reduce household waste by almost 350,000 tonnes.
Reductions
Dr Richard Swannell, head of innovation at WRAP, said: “We are already supporting some very exciting projects that have the potential to deliver direct and significant reductions in household food and packaging waste levels, but we need more.
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“We are looking for projects that will help us meet the objectives of the recently-signed Courtauld Commitment and, in particular, proposals that focus on reducing the five million tonnes of food waste thrown away every year in the UK. Cutting-edge projects that will push the boundaries of packaging technology beyond their current limits are also very welcome,” Dr Swanell said.
Complete financial support is available for successful projects, WRAP said, covering areas such as innovation in product design and packaging, product dispensing systems, prototyping, pilots and trials, distribution tests and consumer testing.
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