WRAP launches new £4.7 million grants to increase plastics packaging and textiles recycling in England

Two new grants have been unveiled today to fund capital infrastructure projects in England which will help to drive up the recycling of plastic packaging and textiles.

The new grants have been launched as part of the £18 million Resource Action Fund, launched by Defra in May 2019, and are focusing on increasing reprocessing infrastructure for plastics and textiles.

The grants, which will be managed by WRAP, will see these two sectors sharing up to £4.7 million, with applicants being able to apply for between £200,000 and £1 million.

The plastics grant will support pioneering new projects which will help to enable the recycling of plastic packaging such as pots, tubs and trays, and films and pouches, and diverting it from landfill or incineration.

The focus of the textiles grant will be on supporting the infrastructure that can better sort and process the large number of textiles and clothing and avoid them being discarded, potentially paving the way for the first ever textiles recycling plant in the UK.

Peter Maddox, WRAP Director, said: “There is a growing public alarm about the impact of plastic and textiles on our planet. To really tackle this, we have to shift from the prevailing make, use, and dispose culture to a more sustainable one in which we keep resources in use as many times as human ingenuity can conceive.”

“Modernisation is key to making this happen and I am delighted that this significant amount of money is being made available to unlock and enable that process. I’m really excited to see what the applicants will bring to the table.”

Environment Minister Thérèse Coffey said: “I encourage organisation to apply to WRAP for our multi-million pound grant to drive up the recycling of plastics and textiles. We are committed to going further and faster to reduce, reuse, recycle, and cut waste. It makes no sense economically or environmentally for these valuable materials to end up in landfill.”