The London Waste and Recycling Board has allocated £28 million (US $42.2 million) to developing waste infrastructure projects from a selected pool of ideas that it will identify over the next year. The Board has passed its second year business plan which explains the guidelines for funding to deliver the biggest impact in waste reduction, reuse and recycling.
Last year the fund received £18 million (US $27 million) from Europe and called for expressions of interest for the funding. This money went to reuse schemes, the Recycle for London campaign and a 100,000 tonne per year gasification plant among other things. The Board will now identify 20 projects which it considers to be the most effective in delivering the waste management strategy London’s mayor has set out.
James Cleverly, Assembly Member, said: ‘We have identified a clutch of projects that we could support and help fund over the next 12 months. These innovative schemes will deliver the most “bang for their buck”, save councils and their residents money and make it easier for people to manage their waste. This year will be the year of delivery for us.'
The Board’s Plan has been developed in conjunction with the Mayor of London’s waste priorities as detailed in his draft municipal waste management strategy – London’s Wasted Resource - which contains measures to boost London's recycling rates, to embrace less polluting waste technologies, make more money from our waste, ensure streets are cleaner ahead of 2012 and save up to £90 million per year. This saving could be made by sending no rubbish to landfill, recycling as much as possible, and extracting energy from what is left over.
