£165k fund launched to help local community groups reduce, reuse and recycle

A share of £165,000 is up for grabs to help community groups make the Liverpool City Region a cleaner and greener place.

The funding – made available via the Merseyside Recycling & Waste Authority and Veolia Community Fund 2023/24 – is for community and voluntary groups, schools and not-for-profit organisations, who can reduce household waste, encourage recycling and resource reuse and prevent carbon emissions.

There is up to £30,000 for projects which cover a minimum of three City Region districts, and between £1000 and £8,000 available for projects which work solely at one local authority level.

Chairperson of Merseyside Recycling & Waste Authority (MRWA), Councillor Tony Concepcion, said:

“Giving groups the opportunity to get involved in looking after their environment brings benefits to all and can help us appreciate items as valuable resources rather than something which otherwise might be just thrown away.

“We’ve seen that previous projects have continued to deliver benefits beyond the first year, through their legacy and ongoing impact on behavioural change, and in many cases through new or continuing activities.”

Bids must tackle one or more of the four priority household waste materials which have been identified by MRWA as key, namely WEEE (Waste Electrical & Electronic Equipment), Food, Textiles and Furniture. An analysis* of waste in the region highlighted that a greater amount of these materials could be re-used or recycled. Projects can also include other household waste materials, for example paper, plastic or metals.

Previous Community Fund projects have included local recycling guidebooks, cookery clubs to support healthy eating and reduce food waste, fruit and veg gleaning, restoring old furniture to sell for charity and refurbishing unwanted rugs for resale. In January one project held a climate change conference with secondary schoolchildren from across Liverpool City Region to help highlight wasted clothes and textiles.

Another organisation to have previously received funding was the British Dietetic Association, who have been running the Waste Warriors food waste reduction and cookery skills programme, thanks to £20,000 from the MRWA Community Fund.

Suzanne Mitchell, Let’s Get Cooking lead, said:

“The opportunity to support a local community with our funding was a really powerful idea. We hope we’ve inspired households to think about new ways to save money by reducing the amount of food they throw away and growing their own produce using a community garden.”