Resource industry experts back WRAP’s charity move

Waste management and resource industry experts have backed the Waste & Resources Action Programme's (WRAP) plans to apply for charitable status.


Last month, in an exclusive interview with edie.net, WRAP’s chief executive Liz Goodwin revealed that it was set to overhaul its structure and become a charity in a bid to diversify its funding base and secure its long-term future.

Speaking to edie.net about WRAP’s plans, Ricardo-AEA’s resource efficiency practice director Adam Read said: “I think this was an inevitable step forward in the evolution of WRAP, given the obvious decline in their central Government funding – they have had to endure some tough years with uncertainty over Government direction and funds.

“To continue as a productive and effective organisation they need to secure alternative funding sources to enable them to build on some of the excellent work they have delivered over the last decade or so, if this is private finance, European Commission grants or charitable funds then I am sure many of us working in the sector would applaud the efforts of WRAP to secure their future and to continue to make a real positive contribution in the journey towards a more cyclical economy and a more resource-efficient UK.

“We will continue to work loosely them on priority programmes, projects and new opportunities as they arise, and wish them well with their plans between now and the summer.”

Independent commentator Peter Jones concurred with Read and said: “Following the not-for-profit or charitable route is a well trodden one for non-governmental organisation (NGOs) in the environmental space and one which clearly has upsides for WRAP.

“Doing so on the scale at which they operate with any attendant risks that the DEFRA comfort blanket will be stripped away could actually open up the market considerably and oblige all the NGOs to become more proactive in driving key issues rather than being reactive to what the ‘Government’ thinks is important.

“Liz [Goodwin] is dead right that the agenda is increasingly driven by private sector supply chains more concerned with longer wave resource and energy issues rather than short sighted policy creation. However, there are already some formidable players in that space.”

Liz Gyekye

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