The organisation, backed by the Scottish Government, is to provide funding worth an estimated 10 million to invest in infrastructure, innovation and capacity to support its drive towards becoming a zero waste society.
The first of the funds, Litter and Flytipping, is designed to support and inform the information, infrastructure and enforcement elements of the Scottish Governments draft litter strategy.
It is open to a variety of bodies including local authorities, land managers, charities, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), community and third sector organisations.Applicants can apply for grants worth a minimum of 2,000 and a maximum of 50,000.
Meanwhile, the Local Recycling Communications Fund is open for Scottish local authorities looking to maximise the quality of materials collected via communications projects. Up to 1.50 per household is available as a grant towards communication costs such as door knocking, promotional literature or advertising.
Growth
The third fund, for Consumer Behaviour Innovation, supports ideas and interventions to influence recycling and food waste prevention. Grants, valued between 3,000 and 30,000, will be available to third sector groups and businesses.
Iain Gulland, Director of Zero Waste Scotland, said: Zero Waste Scotland sees investment in innovation and capacity building as key to driving the move to a zero waste society, which will bring benefits to our environment and create jobs and economic growth.
It is particularly important that we support people to practice the right behaviours through education, awareness and practical encouragement. These new funds part of our strategic commitment to a zero waste society will help people to reduce litter and waste and increase recycling and re-use. We look forward to working with others to make a real difference.
The grants follow a raft of changes to waste regulations due to be implemented by Zero Waste Scotland, in partnership with agencies including the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA), from January 1 2014 (see letsrecycle.com story).
Change
The measures will give businesses a legal duty to segregate recyclable material, including metal, plastic, paper, card and glass under the Waste (Scotland) Regulations 2012.
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In preparation for the move, waste firms are also now signing to Scotlands Resource Sector Commitment. Companies including William Tracey Group and Lowmac have agreed to increase resource efficiency and user-friendly contracts, with the former calling for fundamental change across the sector (see letsrecycle.com story).
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