Transforming Waste was a UK-wide initiative that ran from 2003 to 2006. It funded community-sector projects that expanded waste re-use, recycling and composting, with wider objectives of:
- increasing the amount and range of materials diverted from final disposal,
- increasing the number of households participating in waste reduction, and
- developing sustainable communities.
In each country of the UK we appointed an award partner organisation to manage and deliver funding.
We commissioned ERM (Environmental Resources Management) and Eunomia Research and Consulting to undertake a three-year evaluation of the programme, focusing on:
- the environmental, economic and social impacts of the programme,
- the effectiveness and impact of community participation, and
- the longer-term sustainability of projects.
The evaluation reported on a number of positive outcomes from the programme, most significantly the way that it had helped matched service provision to differing levels of demand, and indeed helped to increase demand, participation and the recycling infrastructure. It helped to increase community participation, notably in disadvantaged areas, and gave groups an opportunity to develop new skills and to widen markets for their work.
The evaluation also discussed some of the challenges of running a programme of this sort, notably the timescale for setting up the wider initiatives, and the types of skills that community groups would need to sustain their work into the future.
Please contact us if you have any comments or questions.