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Print articleCambridgeshire and Peterborough Waste Partnership (RECAP), which has been awarded the money, will be one of the first groups in the country to find ways of helping traders reduce waste they send to landfill.
Not only will the scheme help to reduce the thousands of tonnes of rubbish that end up in landfill sites but will help to save businesses money.
The funds, provided by the Business Resource Efficiency and Waste (BREW) programme, will help local councils to take on a wider role to help local businesses, and particularly small and medium enterprises, reduce and recycle their waste. This will help make cost savings in their business waste charges, as stated in the new National Waste Strategy, unveiled last month by the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).
The funds provided through BREW are to establish 'trailblazer' trade recycling schemes, that involve cooperation between local councils, businesses, private waste companies and community groups. The RECAP partnership was selected as one such trailblazer to help develop best practice in collecting trade waste for recycling.
Councillor John Reynolds, Cambridgeshire County Planning and Regional Matters Portfolio Holder, which is acting as the lead authority on behalf of the RECAP trailblazer partnership, said:
?The RECAP partnership has been recognised for its excellence in recycling household waste with the award of Beacon Status in March last year, and now we will be able to extend this expertise and knowledge to helping local businesses recycle their waste. The Government wants to see councils use their influence as local community leaders to work with businesses and other organisations to achieve more sustainable waste management practices, and, as a leader in this field, we jumped at the chance.?
The partnership will soon appoint two new staff to work with local businesses and private and public sector waste collectors to establish new trade recycling schemes across Cambridgeshire and Peterborough.
Councillor Reynolds added:
?This work with local businesses is particularly important now that the Chancellor announced a steep increase in landfill tax in the last budget, which will hit all company's profits if they do not reduce and recycle their waste. We want to see local businesses remain competitive as well as reduce their environmental impacts and so are keen to help them recycle through this grant.?
