News
The National Waste Plan sets out a challenging, but realistic objective to achieve 25% recycling and composting of municipal solid waste by 2006, and 55% by 2020. Scotland recorded a 6% increase in recycling and composting between October and December 2005 compared to the same period the previous year, bringing the annual rate to 22.8%. This has been achieved with the support of community sector organisations that have implemented recycling schemes funded by programmes such as INCREASE II.
Since April 2006, 52 community-based recycling organisations in Scotland have received a share of £3,148,545 from the INCREASE II Programme. A total of 65 projects have been awarded funding including 42 small and 23 strategic applications. All the projects will contribute to the targets set out in the National Waste Plan. The full list of small and strategic funded projects are displayed on the website (click here).
Since April 2006, community organisations aim to divert 7,878 tonnes of waste from Landfill with the assistance of INCREASE II funding. There are many opportunities for community recycling throughout Scotland, and these latest figures illustrate how valuable the sector is in terms of delivering a sustainable waste management strategy for Scotland.
We caught up with some of our projects to find out how they plan to use INCREASE II funding…
Langholm Recycling Group: £28,468 Awarded (March 2006)
The Langholm Recycling Group is a registered Scottish Charity that was formed in 2001 by a local community group in Langholm, a small town in Dumfries and Galloway with a population of ~2,500. The Group stemmed from the work of the Bonnie Langholm Committee, a local committee established to raise awareness of recycling in the Langholm area. The Langholm Recycling Group was formally constituted in 2003.
The main aims of the organisation are to:
- Promote higher levels of recycling in Langholm via education and awareness-raising activities on the benefits and necessity to recycle and minimise waste
- Develop a sustainable waste project through social enterpris
The INCREASE II funding will be used to employ a Project Officer to prepare a business plan and to seek additional funding to set up a sustainable community-composting site in Langholm. The post-holder will work closely with local individuals, groups and businesses to develop the necessary local awareness and support which will make the project viable. No composting will occur during this phase of the project.
Once the necessary capital funding is secured, the Project Officer will be charged with establishing the composting enterprise, ensuring that it is properly constituted. In the longer term, it is hoped that systems will increase the tonnes recycled and allow for the production and sale of compost. It is envisaged that the organisation will reduce its dependency on grants and generate more revenue.
Falkland Heritage Trust: £5,000 Awarded (March 2006)
Falkland Heritage Trust (FHT) was founded in 1994 and is recognised as a Scottish Charity. FHT works to inspire and practice responsible stewardship of the built, natural and cultural environment. The Big Tent is a national festival of stewardship, and the event in July attracted 6,000 people throughout Fife and neighbouring areas to a tented village in Falkland for three days. One tent focussed on waste minimisation (the 3R’s [reduce, reuse, recycle] tent): free waste and recycling workshops were held for all visitors and over 200 schoolchildren, information stalls, demonstrations of recycling technology and learning games / activities. FHT aimed to achieve ‘zero waste’ at the event and aimed to divert between 2 and 5 tonnes (paper, plastics, wood) from landfill. The Big Tent will provide a best practice model for other festivals and events.
“Our aim is to encourage as many people as possible to make a difference to the environment while discovering the importance of good stewardship. It doesn’t matter whether you live in the countryside, or a town or city. The important thing is to realise that we all have a part to play in making a difference.”
“This INCREASE funding contributes to our infrastructure costs for the festival and, therefore, to our ability to carry out the event. This will ensure that we can continue to carry out the event in forthcoming years, and enable us to reach a wider audience in our attempts to inspire responsible stewardship.”
Ninian Stuart, Stewardship Director for the Falkland Centre for Stewardship
Acharacle Community Company: £30,000 Awarded (March 2006)
The Ardnamurchan area is a rural, remote area on the western periphery of the Scottish mainland. The Local Authority has not prioritised this sparsely populated area for sustainable waste management.
Acharacle Community Company is an emerging social enterprise seeking to boost development on the Ardnamurchan peninsula by maximising benefit from the area’s resources. Acharacle Community Company was incorporated on 27th March 2001: it is a registered charity and a company limited by guarantee.
The projects primary aims are to divert waste from landfill by:
- Reusing local waste materials for hire or sale at low cost
- Raising awareness and educating the local community in waste recycling techniques e.g. through interactive workshops
The INCREASE II funding will be used to fund a part-time Development Worker to further develop the project for the benefit of the community and the local economy. A total of 4 tonnes of waste (namely furniture, steel, books, bric-a-brac and WEEE) will be diverted from landfill over the lifetime of the project.
The Development Worker will also produce an options appraisal for the waste/resource potential within the area, which will help Acharacle tackle the sustainable management of waste in the longer term.
Golspie Recycling Environmental Action Network (GREAN): £20,180 Awarded (March 2006)
GREAN was founded in 2000 and became a company limited by guarantee in 2004. GREAN is a community based recycling project with environmental protection, and employment and training objectives. It has a number of enterprises including:
- A kerbside collection of dry recyclates in East and Central Sutherland
- A bring site for dry recyclates
- A bring site for garden waste including composting
- A community garden
- Manufacture of flaked paper animal bedding
- Confidential document shredding service
GREAN ReCycle is a bicycle-recycling project that covers an area from Dingwall in the south to Brora in the North. GREAN applied to INCREASE II for funding to purchase a vehicle to collect bicycles for refurbishing and re-use or stripping for spares and scrap. 1,600 extra bikes will be collected by 6th June 2007 and 24 additional tonnes of bikes will be diverted from landfill.
The funding will enable GREAN to rapidly increase their turnover, tonnage diversion and training opportunities of a project that has rapidly proved to be a success and ensure that the GREAN ReCycle project will continue into the future.
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Next Application Deadline…
The next closing date for small applications is Monday 2nd October 2006: eligible applications received by this date will be informed of the panel decision within eight weeks of this date. Strategic applications continue to operate on a rolling basis.
INCREASE II Eligibility…
Community recycling organisations that are unincorporated without charitable status are ineligible for INCREASE II funding. To be eligible, an organisation must be recognised as a legal entity e.g. a registered charity. To check the eligibility of your organisation, please refer to Page 4 of the INCREASE II guidance notes, downloadable from the website (click here).
INCREASE II Application Forms and Guidance Notes have been updated…
When applying to INCREASE II, it is important to download a new version of the application form and guidance notes - as both may include up-to-date information. Never use old formats of applications forms / guidance notes to avoid delays in processing your application.
Feedback…
We want to hear your views on what you think we should include in future issues of the INCREASE II e-bulletin. For more information, to unsubscribe or to send your comments, please send an email to:
info@increase-programme.org.uk
or telephone the helpline on:
0870 190 5278
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www.increase-programme.org.uk/
Disclaimer
This e-bulletin makes every effort to provide correct information at the time of distribution, but does not itself constitute a definitive guide to any issues mentioned in it. |
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