• A range of innovative projects to tackle litter louts
in local communities have been awarded funding by the government,
Environment Minister Thérèse Coffey has announced today.
• The first round of funding sees a number of councils, charities,
businesses, and public projects awarded almost £125,000 to
take innovative steps to tackle littering in their
communities.
The successful projects include developing bins to prevent
seagulls from scattering litter on beaches and working with river
users to reduce plastic getting into rivers, helping to tackle
the issue of litter getting into our marine environment.
The funding builds on the Government’s wider
Litter Strategy for England, as well as the
recent launch of the 25 Year Environment
Plan setting out how Government will protect and
enhance our natural environment.
Welcoming the new projects, Environment Minister
Thérèse Coffey said:
“We want to be the first generation to leave our
environment in a better state than we found it and these
innovative new projects will help reduce the amount of litter
which so often plagues our streets, parks, countryside, rivers
and marine environment.
“We have all seen the damaging effects that litter can have
on wildlife and the environment, and I encourage people to do
their bit, take responsibility for their litter and recycle
more.”
Communities Minister said:
“The Litter Innovation Fund is part of our wider strategy
to deliver a substantial reduction in litter and littering while
leaving a cleaner, greener and tidier environment for the next
generation.
“I am looking forward to seeing these projects supporting
that strategy while helping communities make a real difference in
their area.”
Government has recently announced a range of new measures
to tackle waste including proposals to extend the 5p plastic bag
charge to small retailers and introducing a ban on plastic
microbeads.
Keeping the country’s streets clean cost local Government
almost £700 million last year. Much of this is avoidable litter,
and money that could be better spent in the community. Despite
this, a worrying 1 in 5 people admit to dropping litter.
A second round of applications will be launched
shortly.
Notes to editors:
1The Litter Innovation Fund was set up as part of the
Government’s Litter Strategy for England which was launched in
April 2017 as is administered by the sustainability
not-for-profit charity WRAP. A total of £450,000 is available for
funding to local projects.
2Applications are assessed consistently and against
published criteria.
3The funding is evenly provided by the Department for
Environment, Food & Rural Affairs and the Department for
Communities and Local Government and funding awarded is limited
to a maximum of £10,000 per project. Projects much also secure
match finding.
4The cost of £682m in 2016/17 for street cleaning is from
Official local Government returns to DCLG: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/local-authority-capital-expenditure-receipts-and-financing
5Research on one in five admitting to having dropped litter
in the past is from Keep Britain Tidy - Litter Droppers
Segmentation research (2010)
