Resources

Re-use occurs when items are used again for their original purpose. It can involve checking, cleaning and repairing items before they are passed on to a new owner. Local authorities can develop services to facilitate re-use or support existing re-use organisations and community groups to deliver their own activities.

WRAP carried out research in 2012/13 to test communications aimed at:

• building awareness of the negative aspects of food waste; and,
• influencing behaviours to prevent food waste and increase the use of local authority food collection services.

This section of the Household Waste Prevention Hub provides a summary overview of the research report’s recommendations.

This section provides links to WRAP’s communications guidance. It provides both general and specific waste prevention communications guidance as well as case studies and pilots on successful communications activities.

Communicating re-use is essential to increase donations of items for re-use and increase demand for donated items. WRAP provides a number of materials to support local authorities with their communications campaigns.

Effective communications will be tailored to suit different stakeholder groups and their different behaviours and motivations. Local authorities should work with local partners to push out communications and use national brands to build awareness on key waste prevention issues.

Understanding the motivations and behaviours of different stakeholders is essential to targeting the right messages to the right audiences.

As a local authority you may not be best placed to deliver messages to all audiences so it is important to look for partners who residents engage with.

Planning and estimating potential diversion

This section describes two basic steps that should be completed by a local authority in the initial stages of planning a waste prevention programme. It is important to understand the nature of the waste collected before an estimation of the impact of specific waste prevention activities is made.

Making the case for waste prevention requires an understanding of the possible types of waste prevention activities that could be adopted and an indication of what these could achieve if they were implemented.    

In 2020 WRAP carried out an options appraisal on behalf of a medium sized Waste Collection Authority in the midlands to compare the cost and performance of a range of collection scenarios in preparation for necessary changes to its household waste collection service.

The Waste Prevention Programme in England for 2013 was set out in the policy paper ‘Prevention is better than cure: The role of waste prevention in moving to a more resource efficient, circular economy'. This report provides a review of the existing waste prevention programme: actions undertaken and impacts.

Plastic film and flexible recycling is the number one priority for The UK Plastics Pact. In ths webinar, WRAP’s Adam Herriott and Lowelle Bryan discuss progess so far, future plans up to 2025, and how local authorities can help lead the way in getting film collected at the kerbside.

In this webinar Peter Sainsbury, WRAP Lead Economist, talks about the shifts in recovered materials, including plastics, paper and card, textiles, metal and glass price volatility. Debbie Palfrey, WRAP Cymru Materials Marketing & Compliance Advisor, also discusses learning from Materials Marketing in Wales and strategies local authorities can employ.