Community Recycling Network: News & Events

CRN UK WELCOMES Ł4M AS RECOGNITION OF COMMUNITY SECTOR'S KEY ROLE IN DELIVERY OF DEFRA STRATEGY

The Community Recycling Network UK says that the Ł4m cash boost announced by Defra will enable the community sector, including sister networks the Community Composting Network and Furniture Re-use Network, to expand their vital work in re-using, recycling and composting.

The Environment Minister, Elliott Morley, announced Defra's financial support at the Annual Conference of the Community Recycling Network UK in May.

Andy Moore, Co-ordinator of the Community Recycling Network UK, says: "As everyone knows, the community sector has a key role to play in harnessing the energy of communities and householders to realise value through diversion of municipal waste from landfill. This money will facilitate more and closer partnerships with local authorities and the innovation that characterises the sector.

"The CRN UK lobbied for the Landfill Tax Credit Scheme to be made more strategic. This process has taken rather longer than envisaged but we are now pleased to be working with Defra's Waste Implementation Programme (WIP) and other Government agencies in the delivery of Defra strategy."

There are three strands to the Defra fund -

The Ł3m grant fund will be welcoming bids that strongly demonstrate innovation and partnership working with local authorities, businesses or other community groups. Applications can come from existing or new projects. There is a Ł5,000 minimum but no maximum limit to bids and there is no match-funding obligation. The fund is already open.

Following on from the successful establishment of regional community recycling networks in Wales - Cylch, Scotland - Community Recycling Network Scotland - and London - London CRN - the package of money from Defra will enable four more regional co-ordinators to be set up in four English regions - Yorkshire and the Humber, the South West, the North West and Eastern England.

The regional development co-ordinators will provide support and coordination for community sector recycling, re-use and composting businesses in their regions, liaise with local and regional government, and encourage partnership working.

A taskforce led by the sector will look to the sector's future. It will commission research into barriers to better procurement of the sector's services and into more sustainable funding.

ENDS

Notes for editors:

The Community Recycling Network UK is a national umbrella organisation for more than 300 community groups, co-operatives and not-for-profit businesses in the community waste sector. Its aim is to promote community-based recycling as the most effective way of tackling the UK's growing waste problem. Its members have achieved some of the highest recycling rates in the UK and offer separated kerbside recycling collections to two million households - eight per cent of the UK population.

The Community Recycling Network UK is based at Trelawney House, Surrey Street, Bristol, BS2 8PS, tel: 0117 942 0142. The CRN UK website is www.crn.org.uk.

For all media enquiries please contact: Andy Nelmes, CRN UK Press Officer, 0117 908 0415 or 07949 626119, andyn@crn.org.uk