The UK Government has opened calls for a share of £300,000 in funding for projects which aim to address littering in local communities.
The funding follows a previous tranche of £125,000 to support innovative approaches in tackling littering in local communities, including collaborative efforts between local councils, businesses, public projects and charities to tackle littering and improve the environment.
Now, an additional £300,000 will support further efforts as part of the UK government’s wider litter strategy, with 10% of funding entirely dedicated towards projects which seek to prevent marine litter. Overall, cleaning up litter cost the UK government almost £700m in 2017 alone, meaning that an investment in preventing litter could create a significant impact, and allow local councils to reallocate this money to be spent on other improvements to quality of life.
How is the government tackling littering with its litter strategy?
The UK has recently introduced a number of new regulations to support the drive to reduce litter, including a number of new penalties for people littering from vehicles, making drivers responsible. Further, the maximum on-the-spot fine for littering was almost doubled. Despite this, some one in five people admitted to dropping litter in a recent study.
Funding is provided by the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and administered by the Waste Resources Action Programme, a sustainability non-profit organisation. Projects can apply for funding until 5 October.
What have government stakeholders said about the funding?
Announcing the new funding call, Environment Minister Thérèse Coffey said: “This Government is tough on tackling litter which if left unchecked makes our towns and cities less pleasant places, poisons our wildlife, and blights our countryside. That is why we are providing grants of up to £10,000 for communities to come up with creative solutions to tackle litter in their local area and I encourage local groups to apply.”
She emphasised that the purpose of the funding is to unlock opportunities for collaboration between relevant stakeholders, which is the only way for true progress to be made. Coffey said: “It is only through government and communities working together that we will affect the long-term behavioural change that is needed to tackle this scourge, and leave the environment in a better state than we inherited it.”
