UK Circular Plastics Flagship Projects Competition

Scope and aim of the competition

The overall aim of the programme is to support the delivery of the UK Government’s target of achieving zero avoidable plastic waste by end of 2042 and the objectives of The UK Plastics Pact. These are (by 2025):

• 100% of plastic packaging to be reusable, recyclable or compostable;
• 70% of plastic packaging effectively recycled or composted;
• Take actions to eliminate problematic or unnecessary single-use packaging items through redesign, innovation or alternative (reuse) delivery models;
• A minimum of 30% average recycled content across all plastic packaging.

The grant funds will support new pioneering industry-led collaborative projects, focused on unlocking the most critical, short-term barriers to improving plastics circularity, finding new innovative solutions and interventions that will remove or overcome these barriers.  

Proposed interventions must be new and innovative, i.e. they have not been tried or tested before within the UK.

The short-term challenges to plastic circularity are:

• Cutting the total volume of plastic waste arising from the UK;
• Significantly improving the rate of UK plastic recycling;
• Cutting levels of confusion amongst UK citizens; and
• Reducing the amount of plastic from the UK ending up in the world’s oceans.

Round 2 – Refill Infrastructure Grant – new opportunity June 2020

Scope and aim of the competition

This new £475,000 scheme is open to applicants looking to trial and pilot new interventions that will implement refill infrastructure within an existing or new supply chain. WRAP is inviting Expressions of Interest from eligible applicants with project proposals that have strong commercial potential to reduce the use of single use primary plastic packaging. Projects should also offer significant opportunity to challenge and change the status quo, by changing the way retailers and their associated supply chain partners manage and design their supply chains in order to incorporate new refill options for their customers.  

Who can apply?

The scheme is looking to support collaborative projects only, that are business-led between retailers, manufacturers, and/or supply chain partners in order to identify how to ensure the economics of refill work across the whole supply chain and which can be communicated to the wider industry for the benefit of all.  

The appointed lead applicant must be from industry and must be a business or organisation that is currently dealing with, or planning to operate in, a plastic supply chain. (i.e. manufacturers, retailers, distributers, resource management companies etc.).  

Project proposals must include a collaboration with at least one other organisation. Other organisations may include retailers, manufacturers, or supply chain partners. 

The programme will award grants between £50,000 to £150,000 (both capital and revenue expenditure). There is a requirement for grant recipients to demonstrate commitment to the project by contributing a minimum of 25% match-funding (in monetary form).