UK Agency Offering Money for Wood Recycling Projects

A new capital support competition recently launched by the Waste & Resources Action Programme is aimed at accelerating investment in higher value wood recycling infrastructure in the UK.

The Open Tender competition is open to anyone involved in reprocessing post consumer wood waste that would otherwise end up in landfill, and specifically excludes forestry residue products and by-products from saw milling operations. The program will provide up to 30 percent of the eligible capital costs involved in creating new reprocessing capacity, including land, buildings and machinery. Key criteria in winning funding will include overall value for money, the applicant's arrangements for marketing the output products and their ability to deliver the project within the timescale of the program.

"The purpose of the Wood Capital Support Programme is to provide financial assistance towards the costs of plant, equipment and infrastructure for wood projects in the UK which will collectively increase the total UK processing capacity of post-consumer wood waste for value-added products by 50,000 metric tons per year," explains Michelle O'Riley, WRAP Capital Grants Manager.

WRAP aims to broaden the market opportunities for post-consumer wood by encouraging its use in value-added markets such as animal bedding, and landscaping and surfacing products in order to build healthy and efficient markets for the future.

Projects for capital funding support are selected using a rigorous competitive process. Those applications or proposals that most strongly meet the core evaluation criteria will be selected for financial support.

To be eligible for Capital Funding, applicants need to fulfill some basic eligibility criteria. First and foremost they must demonstrate that their project is a capital investment to create new, or expand existing, capacity to process post-consumer wood waste from municipal, commercial and industrial sources into value-added products.

Applicants must also demonstrate that the majority (51 percent or more) of the output from the project is for value-added applications, products or markets. The project's viability must be dependent on WRAP support, located in the UK and be installed and fully operational by Wednesday 1st August 2007.

According to WRAP, value-added applications include, but are not restricted to: * natural and decorative mulches; * surfacing materials for pathways; * play surfaces; * equestrian surfacing; * bedding for horses, poultry, cattle and domestic pets; and * cat litter. Biomass is not classed a value-added application under the terms of the competition.

There is no restriction on the type of organization that may apply for this fund and it is open to all sizes of business, from SMEs to multi-nationals. All eligible applications are assessed by a panel that includes WRAP representatives and professionals or organizations with relevant expertise.

Full tender details, including the application process and assessment criteria, are available on the WRAP website at www.wrap.org.uk or by e-mailing the WRAP Capital Grants team, quoting ref: MDW001, at capital.support@wrap.org.uk. The closing date for receipt of applications is 12 noon on Monday 7th August 2006.