WRAP’s income drops as waste spending rises

Figures published by the charity commission show that WRAP’s gross income fell from £40.84 million in 2019/20 to £15.76 million.

This comes as its expenditure fell by nearly 10%, from £24.97 million to £22.56 million.

This means the charity spent more annually than it earnt for the first time since it was given charity status in 2014.

In a review of the 2020/21 financial year, WRAP said it was in a “healthy position” despite a “tough year”.

“We are in a strong position financially…Our tried-and-tested solutions have been scaled up to deliver impact across cities, regions, and nations,” the resources charity said. “Our five products – voluntary agreements, citizen behaviour change, grants and investment, policy and insights, and technical support – indicate our achievements are working to tackle climate change.”

Resources spending

While overall expenditure fell, money spent on waste and resource management expenditure increased to £12.3 million, up from £11.8 million the previous year.

Grants awarded have increased by £2.9m, whereas spend in the following activities has reduced: Recycle Now (-£0.5m), recycling collections with local authorities (-£0.5m), Wales and NI (-£0.4m), International (-£0.5m), Trifocal (-£0.6m).

WRAP pointed to a number of initiatives it ran during the year, including the first ever Food Waste Action Week.

Alongside WRAP’s Food Waste Reduction Roadmap’s ‘Target, Measure, Act’ approach, the charity said it has now helped prevent £300 million worth of food (at least 180,000 tonnes) from going to waste.

Its annual Recycle Week also generated 26 million digital impressions (22 million in 2019) and 185 million opportunities for citizens to read, hear or watch stories about the Week (59 million in 2019).

We played an important part in keeping vital waste services in operation from the start of the crisis– WRAP

Employees

WRAP employs 195 people and has 9 trustees. The data highlights that 29 employees earn more than £60,000, with six earning more than £100,000.

A joint statement from Julie Hill and Marcus Glover, who are chair and chief executive of the charity, explained that 2020/21 has been a “highly successful year”.

“We played an important part in keeping vital waste services in operation from the start of the crisis, running this emergency support alongside delivery of planned programmes,” the joint statement explained.

It added: “Our government partners have expressed great appreciation for this. WRAP was also instrumental in redirecting food that might have been wasted from the hospitality industry to people who needed it.”