WRAP Cymru’s Collaborative Change Programme (CCP) for Wales offers strategic, technical and communications support to help local authorities (LAs) develop and deliver detailed plans to achieve the outcomes of Welsh Government’s national waste strategy, Beyond recycling.
Types of support we offer
Local authorities may apply for a range of strategic, technical and communications support. This includes:
Local authority service change support
We work with authorities who wish to change their services in line with Welsh Government strategy. For each local authority we agree a bespoke programme of work for the planned changes.
The Collections Blueprint is Welsh Government’s recommended service profile for the collection of waste from households. It provides a system, which when adopted across the whole of Wales, will result in high rates of high-quality recycling, significant cost savings and improved sustainable development outcomes.
Local authority materials marketing support
The objective of our support is to ensure local authorities make the most of the materials they collect for recycling. We provide support for them to market their materials, ensuring they achieve a good price and have clarity on end destinations and reject reporting from processing facilities.
Where appropriate, we advise on pooling material volumes to enable improved negotiations with re-processors and enhance the feasibility of a circular economy through the control of collected materials.
Local authority modelling and business planning
Our support includes modelling recycling collections options and building upon work we may have already completed with an local authority to prepare a business case for service delivery. We continuously update the models we use and our approach to our work considering new evidence.
Local authority Waste Transfer Station (WTS) / Household Waste Recycling Centre (HWRC) support
We provide support to local authorities to ensure their facilities are run effectively. This may include carrying out operational efficiency reviews, providing permitting and planning support, helping with the design and location of new / redeveloped facilities, or reviewing current site provision and management, either as a stand-alone service or as part of a service change scenario.
Local authority-targeted support
We provide other targeted support for activity which falls outside of the operational support to local authorities outlined above.
General advice to local authorities
Our advice covers existing best practice and topics in emerging areas, such as in relation to new research findings, and we provide this in a range of formats, such as seminars, guidance notes, attendance at existing events or meetings, or in an individual context.
Research and development activities
We carry out a small number of projects relating to the development of knowledge about recycling services in Wales. Activities may include trials around introducing additional materials to recycling collections, such as plastic film or Absorbent Hygiene Products (AHP), and the further development of infrastructure for evolving services, such as electric vehicles (WEVs) and new container types.
Recycling behaviour change campaign and service change communications support
As part of Recycle Now, our Wales Recycles campaign uses evidence-based communications and behaviour change interventions to encourage citizens to recycle more, working closely with local authorities as well as other partners.
In September 2020, we launched Wales’ first ever national recycling campaign, which uses social norming messaging and creative imagery to encourage all Welsh citizens to recycle what they can from their home. We consulted all local authorities to create a Toolkit for the Be Mighty.Recycle. campaign, which provides local authorities with editable as well as ready-to-use communications assets to allow them to create their own local element of the wider, national campaign, to help get Wales to number one in the world at recycling. We’ve since developed several “bursts” of the campaign, routinely consulting, informing and feeding back to local authorities before and after each one.
Highlights of recent support provided by WRAP Cymru
- In 2022/23, WRAP Cymru supported three local authorities in their transition to kerbside sort recycling services in line with the Collections Blueprint and modelled changes to services with a further five local authorities.
- Working together with local authorities in Wales, we made further progress towards reaching 70% recycling by 2025, with nearly every local authority achieving at least 64%.
Contact us
For further information, or to apply for support, email:
- CCP@wrap.org.uk for strategic, operational or technical support; or
- WalesRecycles@wrap.org.uk for communications or messaging support.
If you work for a Wales-based local authority and would like to sign up to receive emails about WRAP Cymru’s strategic, technical and communications support for local authorities’ waste and recycling services in Wales, please email WalesRecycles@wrap.org.uk.