As many as 178 new jobs have been created in Wales by the Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP) Cymru’s ‘Accelerating Reprocessing Infrastructure Development’ (ARID) scheme, the organisation says.

Running between October 2011 and June 2015, ARID is funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) through the Welsh Government and has, to date, provided £14 million of capital support to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to boost the development or reprocessing and collections infrastructure in Wales’ Convergence Area (North West Wales, West Wales and the South Wales Valleys).

It was hoped that support to businesses across the area would help Wales achieve its target of recycling 70 per cent of all waste by 2025. (Figures released last week (19 February) revealed that the 12-month rolling rate of local authority municipal waste being reused, recycled or composted in Wales has reached an all-time high of 55 per cent.)

Report details

A summary report undertaken by Databuild on WRAP Cymru’s behalf in October 2014 has found that the scheme’s 54 grants have so far helped:

• create 178 new jobs;
• businesses reduce, reuse or recycle 399,000 tonnes of waste; and
• avoid 79.5 kilotonnes of carbon emissions.

However, the researchers argue that these impacts are likely to increase as 70 projects are estimated to be completed once the programme reaches its conclusion in June 2015.

The grants have provided businesses with funding for:

• collection services and ‘bring’ sites to increase access to recycling services and secure a ‘consistent supply of quality material’ for the reprocessing sector;
• developing reprocessing infrastructure to add value to recycled material and ensure ‘quality input materials’ were available for use in the manufacturing sector;
• equipment and infrastructure at existing waste management facilities to improve recycling rates and the quality of recycled outputs available for onward processing; and
• equipment for manufacturing SMEs to convert to increase the amount of recycled materials used in production and packaging.

They have also reportedly helped businesses ‘rethink they way they work’, increase confidence in business growth, improve business management and help businesses access specific new materials, by starting new collection services or processing waste, which they previously sent to landfill.

The summary report highlights three case studies in which ARID funding has benefitted a business. One of these studies relates to Scott Waste Management, a Bridgend-based recycling collections business that operates across South Wales.

Through the funding, this recycling collections business bought three new vehicles, a forklift truck and a mill-sized baler, which have reportedly led to a 100 per cent increase in revenue and supported five more staff.

William Scott, owner and Director of Scott Waste Management, said of the business’s involvement with the fund: “What could have taken two to three years to achieve using our own cash flow could be achieved in just one year.

“This year we are growing at a far quicker rate, making the goal of our own transfer station [in the coming year] a real possibility.”

Recommendations for the future

After outlining the impacts of the ARID fund to date, Databuild went on to suggest recommendations for future programme development, based on interviews with ARID beneficiaries.

These included:

• providing revenue (consultancy) support alongside any capital programme to ‘effect change and enhance outcomes’;
• providing further capital and revenue support focusing on priority waste streams;
• establishing an online directory of Welsh businesses across the resource management sector to facilitate contacts between those who have and those who can use particular resources;
• providing loan schemes at ‘advantageous rates’, to offer product or process development support to manufacturers, or as a means to bring forward purchases by companies who may be able to afford a capital purchase themselves in a few years’ time;
• providing behaviour change training to influence investment, increase recycling, improve quality, and improve uptake of recycled materials by manufacturers; and
• providing training and guidance for improved IT use for tracking waste, where customers and users can easily follow the progress of a consignment online.

ARID scheme ‘just the start’

Speaking after the released of the report, WRAP Cymru Director Marcus Gover stated: “ARID is just the start. We want to work with the Welsh Government, with Welsh businesses, with banks and financial institutions to develop their circular economy, deliver green growth and create and fairer, more resilient Wales for us all.”

Read the ARID ‘External Programme Evaluation: Summary Report’.