Local Authority Funding
National Waste Minimisation and Recycling Fund (NWMRF)
In May 2002 Defra invited local councils in England to bid for a slice of what was then announced as a £140 million household waste and recycling fund to help them meet their short term recycling and composting targets for 2003/04 and 2005/06 and thereby help them contribute to achieving the national targets for recycling of household waste for 2005-06 and beyond.
The NWMRF was set up to support local recycling and waste initiatives throughout local authorities in England, helping them to deliver their legal obligations to increase recycling. The Government’s expectation was that the funding would help to move councils away from traditional landfill dumping in favour of recycling, and additionally help to minimise the amount of waste generated.
England had recycled just 10% of household waste in 1999/2000, with the 25% target referred to above only three years away, representing one of the lowest recycling rates in Europe. The Fund, initially expected to be provided the two financial years, 2002-03 and 2003-04 was set up to support projects across five categories, including helping to turn around poor performance. This followed a consultation on the distribution of the Fund in November 2001 with councils and other stakeholders from across the sector. Approximately 800 organisations were consulted and the consultation generated 200 responses.
Following the consultation which ended in January 2002, the Government decided to opt for a challenge based distribution. The rationale being that the fund was not large enough to distribute equally among the nearly 400 local authorities in England, whereas with the challenge approach, it would be possible to prioritise the funding into areas where a big turnaround in performances was needed if the UK was to attain longer term national recycling targets.
London
Following the consultation on the distribution of the NWMRF the Government took the decision to award a proportional share for distribution amongst London authorities. This allocation was administered jointly by the Greater London Authority (GLA), Association of London Government (ALG), and London Waste Action (LWA) under the banner of the London Recycling Fund (LRF)
The strategic objectives of the LRF were in keeping with those of projects funded outside of the capital and were similarly intended to help Local Authorities achieve their Statutory Recycling and Composting Standards.
The LRF was allocated £24.9m over the 2 financial years 2002/03 and 2003/04 and over 70 grants were made over the first two years of the Fund’s operation. Following the announcement in October 2003 of a further £135m to be distributed through the NWMRF over a further two year period, the LRF was allocated an additional £20.55m.
Further information on the projects supported by the LRF can be found at:
Analysis and evaluation of funded projects
Defra has produced two reports concerning the performance of projects funded by the NWMRF. The first is a key findings paper for Round 2 of the fund:
Defra is also pleased to publish a new report that looks at the experiences of local authorities operating kerbside collection projects supported by the fund:
Contacting Defra
If you want further information that is not covered by these pages you can contact us by email adam.hafizi@defra.gsi.gov.uk
Page last modified:
14 June 2006
Page published: 5 February 2003