Introduction to WRAP
The Waste and Resources Action Programme (which operates as WRAP) is a registered UK Charity was set up to help organisations achieve greater resource efficiency. They partner with governments, businesses and communities to deliver practical solutions to encourage re-use, repurposing and recycling. WRAP focus on three key areas within waste management – food and drink, clothing and textiles, and electricals and electronics. Within these sectors, there’s a focus on maximising the value of waste by increasing the quantity and quality of materials collected for reuse and recycling.
Part of WRAP’s work is supporting the waste management sector to help increase recycling rates, promoting innovation in resource re-use and reducing waste overall. Well-known and powerful campaigns such as Recycle Now, Love Food Hate Waste and Love Your Clothes are all key consumer-facing campaigns led by WRAP. They’re designed to highlight waste issues to the public and provide easy, practical tips that can make a different to the global waste issue.
WRAP regularly publish reports on the state of waste management, including reports looking at how much people are recycling. WRAP has compiled recycling guidelines and looked closely at the environmental and economic benefits of re-use. WRAPs research is publically available and can be used by local authorities, businesses and individuals to improve the way they manage their waste and recycle.
The Waste and Resources Action Programme (which operates as WRAP) is a registered UK Charity
WRAP is offering a total of £1.5 million in grants to support projects that provide innovative ways for textile waste to be recycled or re-used, keeping it out of landfill or incineration so that it remains a valuable resource. The money is part of Defra’s £18m Resource Action Fund, set up to support key priority policy areas. DEFRA is UK government’s Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs .
The grants, of between £20,000 and £170,000, are available to organisations of any size, both commercial and not-for-profit. The money is for capital expenditure only; either for equipment or technologies (excluding software and apps) that enable recycling or re-use of clothing or linen waste textiles. Each project will require match funding: 10 per cent from not-for-profit and 50 per cent from commercial organisations. Successful projects will need to demonstrate “innovation beyond normal practice” and will be assessed against a number of criteria.
Increased textiles collection and reprocessing is required in the UK to help deliver the Resource and Waste Strategy (R&WS) and the Circular Economy Package (CEP) objectives. Existing markets for recycled textiles are small scale and traditional, with little innovation or growth potential. To meet the requirement for separate collections of textiles by 2025, new processes and markets need to be found, to avoid separately collected items simply being discarded. In addition, feedback from the textiles recycling sector suggests that export markets may diminish over time as other countries increase their exports of used textiles. The aim of this grant fund is to address the need for increased capacity, sorting, handling, and reprocessing textiles from municipal sources.
Peter Maddox, Director of WRAP UK, said: “We’re looking for really imaginative solutions to the barriers to textile recycling and re-use, such as new technologies, interventions or equipment that hasn’t been tried and tested before. We have had a tremendous response to previous Resource Action Fund grant funding offers, and I confidently expect a similar level of quality applications for this offer.”
Environment Minister Rebecca Pow said: “Fast fashion is having a real impact on our environment. With more than 300,000 tonnes of clothing being sent to landfill or incineration every year, it’s important that we find ways to make the textiles sector more sustainable and environmentally friendly. I look forward to seeing the innovative solutions that are awarded funding under this new grant scheme.”
The aim of this grant is to support projects that will enable textile waste materials to be recycled or re-used, diverting this waste from landfill or incineration, ensuring that it remains a valuable resource. WRAP is looking to support projects that demonstrate a level of innovation beyond normal industry practice. This may include new technologies, equipment not tried and tested before, or interventions that help to address and overcome barriers to textile recycling or re-use.
- The grant will now fund 100% capital costs.
- The grant will now be released in advanced milestones payments.
- The grant can be used to fund any capital costs associated with a business reconfiguration in response to Government guidelines on COVID-19 safety measures, where this forms an integral part of an innovative proposal/project.
- To be eligible, applicants must be a legal registered entity operating or planning to operate in England.
- You must be able to demonstrate that you can secure a regular supply of textiles waste materials (clothing & linens only) that can be recycled and/or re-used as part of your operation and demonstrate end-market arrangements for the output textile products.
This scheme will be assessed on a rolling basis. The final round will close on Friday 30th October.
What is eligible?: Your project must demonstrate how it addresses one or more of the current barriers to reprocessing and re-use of textiles. The following are considered barriers:
- Quality and quantity of feedstocks may not be cost effectively and efficiently processed using manual sorting alone;
- Chemical recycling processes may be commercially further off than mechanical processes, but they may offer higher economic potential in the long run;
- The development of technical processes and more supply chain integration to enable scale up to a commercial size; and
- Demand from brands and retailers is essential, as is positive consumer perceptions of the use of post-consumer textiles.
Funding
A finite budget of £1.5 million has been allocated to this grant. Grant awards will range in value from £20,000 to £170,000. The grant monies can be used to fund up to 100% of eligible project costs. The funding is available to any enterprise of any size, including not-for-profit organisations. Funds are restricted to capital expenditure only.
WRAP has opened the final call for its Textiles Recycling and Re-use Small Scale Grant, which aims to support projects that will enable textile waste materials to be recycled or re-used, diverting this waste from landfill or incineration, ensuring that it remains a valuable resource.
WRAP is looking to support projects that demonstrate a level of innovation beyond normal industry practice. This may include new technologies, equipment not tried and tested before, or interventions that help to address and overcome barriers to textile recycling or re-use.
To be eligible, applicants must be a legal registered entity operating or planning to operate in England. You must be able to demonstrate that you can secure a regular supply of textiles waste materials (clothing & linens only) that can be recycled and/or re-used as part of your operation and demonstrate end-market arrangements for the output textile products.
The fourth and final round will close on Friday 30th October.
For more details and applying for WRAP’s Textile Recycling Grant Fund: Final round
Recycle Week 2020 will celebrate the UK’s commitment to recycling during lockdown
Recycle Week 2020 Recycle Now (Recycle Now is one of WRAP’s family of consumer facing brands) has announced that the theme for the 17th annual Recycle Week (21-27 September 2020) will thank the nation for continuing to recycle despite the challenges that COVID-19 has presented, under the banner ‘Together – We Recycle.’ Several major donors have already signed up to support Recycle Week. Sainsbury’s, Ocado, Co-op, Britvic, Highland Spring, Unilever UK and Ireland, Lucozade Ribena Suntory and Danone will be funding activity during the week to help inspire citizens to recycle more of the right things, more often. Other donors are in the pipeline and will be announced as they come on board. A new Recycle Week resource pack has also been launched for businesses, local authorities and other organisations. This includes more details on the campaign theme, early creative concepts, why you should get involved and how you can get involved during the week. It is free to download from our Resource Library. Craig Stephens, Recycle Now Campaign Manager, said: “People are recycling more than ever, and our nation’s commitment to recycling has continued even during the most challenging of years. Some local authorities are already claiming increases in tonnages during lockdown – with our increased reliance on online deliveries generating an increase in cardboard, for example. Our recycling and waste key workers have heroically carried on collecting while the world slowed down around them. ”We want Recycle Week 2020 to recognise the sacrifices that key workers and citizens have made to keep recycling going and create positive change in the world around us. We’re thrilled that we can count on the support of several major partners to help us do this, and we’re working hard to get more on board. “Every year our partners up their game when it comes to creative ideas to help put recycling under the spotlight – last year we even turned the London Eye green! We hope that this year will be no different, and we can’t wait to see the nation celebrate their commitment to recycling and protecting the planet like never before.”
