CIWM
You are here: CIWM  >  Publications  >  Latest News  >  Mersey Community Groups Secure Reuse Project Funding

Mersey Community Groups Secure Reuse Project Funding

8 February 2012

Eleven community groups around Merseyside have received a financial boost this month for recycling and reuse projects

The local organisations, including schools, scouts and housing associations, have received a share from a £20,000 funding pot.

The money has come from the Community Resource Action Fund, which is managed by Merseyside Recycling and Waste Authority (MRWA) and Veolia Environmental Services.

From furniture and food, to worms and workshops, from copper and compost, to gardens and garments, projects for the funding are wide-ranging: sewing lessons for young people to repair worn clothes, safely stripping valuable copper from discarded electrical equipment, collecting and reusing second-hand furniture, and waste education workshops and art exhibitions.

Chairperson of MRWA, councillor Joe DeAsha, said: "As you can imagine we were inundated with a variety of applications, and we're happy that the final selection will make a positive impact. Our ultimate aim is to reduce the amount of waste being created in Merseyside, and we're hopeful that these projects will do just that.

"It's encouraging to know that these groups are out there doing great things already, sometimes with very limited resources. We're all looking forward to seeing the results of their work."

Applications had to show any or all of the following:

  • - Prevent the creation of waste
  • - Reduce the amount of waste generated and sent to landfill
  • - Increase the reuse of materials
  • - Increase recycling
  • - Address carbon benefits

The Community Fund (which has run for the past three years) is part of MRWA's Waste Prevention Strategy which, through direct initiatives and behavioural change, aims to help reduce the amount of waste being produced in the region, the amount of material going to landfill, and the amount of carbon being created in the atmosphere.

Alex Paterson, Director of Veolia Environmental Services Merseyside & Halton, said: "We would like to thank everyone involved for all of the bids that we have received. We hope that the projects we have chosen will bring positive changes to the local community and promote recycling and sustainability."

www.veoliaenvironmentalservices.co.uk

www.merseysidewda.gov.uk

Darrel Moore