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Material Focus: Electricals Recycling Fund

Open (ongoing) environment Miscellaneous Natural environment and climate Recycling and waste management research social enterprise Sustainable development Antrim & Newtownabbey Ards & North Down Armagh City, Banbridge & Craigavon Belfast City Causeway Coast and Glens Derry City and Strabane England Fermanagh and Omagh Great Britain Lisburn and Castlereagh Mid and East Antrim Mid Ulster Newry, Mourne and Down Northern Ireland Scotland Wales Large (over £60,000) Medium (up to £60,000)

Overview

Almost 80% of people think recycling their electricals is the right thing to do – but only 45% of people think it’s easy. They are looking to fund projects that make it easier for the UK to repair, donate or recycle their old electricals.

The funding is available to any type of organisation that can help do this.

What they fund

They fund two types of projects – those seeking to grow or develop existing household collection services for small household electricals, and those seeking to innovate new collection methods.

Growing existing services

Organisations can apply for up to £100,000 of funding for projects that aim to grow or improve existing household waste and recycling collection services. Up to £0.50 per household receiving the service.

Take a look at some of last year’s Electricals Recycling Fund projects for inspiration!

Find out more (PDF)

Innovating new methods

Organisations can apply for up to £50,000 for projects that aim to innovate or test new approaches to collect electricals for reuse and recycling. They may consider further funding should the project demonstrate value for money and significant impact. Take a look at some of last year’s Electricals Recycling Fund projects for inspiration!

Find out more (PDF)

Multiple Applications

Your organisation can apply for one growth and one innovation project at a time if you have project ideas for both, but you must complete separate applications for each project. Once the outcome of those applications has been decided, if you are unsuccessful you can apply again to either type of project but only if you have a different project idea.

What can funding be spent on

Successful projects can spend funding on: 

  • The purchase of new bins/collection points (‘bring banks’) 
  • The adaptation of waste collection vehicles to include cages for kerbside WEEE 
  • Vehicle rental 
  • Installation of bins 
  • Communication and marketing materials 
  • Staffing costs to cover the time spent planning and delivering the project 

Grant money can be spent on salaries if the person is working to deliver the agreed grant-funded project.

All projects will be expected to deliver a marketing and communications plan to promote their project/service to their residents, including (but not limited to): 

  • Press and media activities 
  • Digital communications (e.g. newsletters, social media) 
  • Printed materials (e.g. leaflet door drops, posters) 
  • Out of Home advertising

Eligibility

They are keen to see applications from organisations, not individuals. That includes local authorities, waste collection authority areas, contractors, non-profits, community sector organisations, producer compliance schemes, and retailers. 

If your application is successful they’ll provide you with project management support and access to their impactful, award-winning marketing materials. Take a look at how they supported last year’s Electricals Recycling Fund projects.