'Waste not, want not': turning waste into good ideas

30/8/12

Waste is very much on the mind of Britons with almost three quarters (73 per cent) revealing they are worried about the amount theUK is producing every year. They are right to be concerned - of the 290 million tonnes of waste generated in the UK each year, only 115 million tonnes gets recycled.[1]

Yet the nation is certainly not idle on the issue with more than one in two people (55 per cent) already taking steps to reduce their own waste and a further 18 per cent keen to join them with a bit more know-how and support. 

Nesta, the UK's innovation foundation, together with the Cabinet Office, has launched the Waste Reduction Challenge, inviting people to submit new ideas on ways to tackle this pressing national issue. 

In the survey, people overwhelmingly called for new ways to increase recycling, cut down on packaging, grow more local food and encourage up-cycling. The Reducing Waste challenge prize will reward innovative ideas which aim to reduce, reuse and/or recycle the greatest levels of waste by engaging communities in giving their time, skills and resources.

The aim of the prize is to place solutions in the hands of local communities, in recognition that winning solutions can be far more likely to come from outside of the waste reduction industry.

People of all backgrounds and experiences are being encouraged to submit their ideas at http://www.nesta.org.uk/givingchallenges. The deadline for entries is the 14 September 2012.

The research also shows:

• The main barrier stopping people putting an idea into action was not knowing where to start (42 per cent)
• Encouragingly, both confidence and not having the right skills were the least cited barriers to putting an idea into action (25 per cent and 26 per cent respectively),suggesting that with the right investment a greater number of people could take a lead in developing ambitious new ways to reduce waste
• Young people(16-24 year olds) are the group that are least likely to know what to do about waste (33 per cent), yet most likely to volunteer for community projects (31 per cent volunteered last year and over 40 per cent intend to in the future)
• In England, overall it is the North East of England who has taken matters most into their own hands with 66 per cent taking measures to reduce waste followed by the South East and South West at 59 per cent.

Vicki Purewal, Nesta's head of the Centre for Challenge Prizes says:

"It is really positive to see that over half of us are already taking steps to reduce waste and many more wanting to know how to. The UK is only at the tip of the landfill when it comes to waste and more needs to be done to tackle the issue at every level. 

"It is clear that people have theideas, skills and the passion to help reduce waste, but sometimes we all need help to get ideas off of the ground. This is why we have launched the Waste Reductionchallenge prize. We want people to submit ambitious new ideas that have the potential to reduce waste by tapping into collective skills and resources of neighbours, family, peers, organisations and businesses."

Minister for Civil Society Nick Hurd said:

"Challenge prizes seek to address pressing social problems by backing novel ways to bring people together to give their time, skills and resources. Finding imaginative solutions for household waste through the Waste Reduction challenge will help engage local communities to tackle this issue head-on."

25 entries to the Waste Reduction challenge will be shortlisted and given support to develop a detailed plan for their idea. Five concepts with the potential for sustainability and scale will then each receive up to £10,000 and professional advice to set up and test their projects.  The idea that is proving the most effective at reducing waste, and has the potential to be even more effective in the future, will be selected in September 2013 and awarded £50,000.

- Ends -

Notes to editor

For further information please contact Sarah Reardon on 020 7438 2606 / sarah.reardon@nesta.org.uk or Natalie Hodgson on 020 7438 2614 natalie.hodgson@nesta.org.uk

A challenge prize (also known as an 'inducement' prize), as defined by Nesta, the UK's innovation foundation, offers a reward to whoever can first or most effectively meet a defined challenge. They act as an incentive for meeting a specific challenge rather than a reward for past achievements ('recognition' prizes).·       
The Reducing Waste survey was carried out amongst 1257 UK adults by Censuswide on behalf of Nesta in August 2012.

Interviews and case studies of existing initiatives to reduce waste are available on request. Case studies include:

Waste Watch

Waste watch demonstrate how people can reduce waste whilst living more fulfilling lives that improve health, wellbeing and happiness.  It's about bringing people together to share more, to learn new skills, and to build stronger communities that actively care for each other and the planet.

Food cycle

Food cycle combine volunteers, surplus food and a free kitchen space to create nutritious meals for people affected by food poverty in the UK and positive social change in the community.

The People's Supermarket

The People's Supermarket is a sustainable food cooperative that responds to the needs of the local community and provides healthy, local food at reasonable prices.  One of their key values is to minimise wastage, by creating prepared dishes from food coming up to its sell-by date, and by composting all other waste material.

The Waste Reduction challenge prize is one of two Giving Challenges run by Nesta's Centre for Challenge Prizes. The Giving Challenges sit alongside the Innovation in Giving Programme, which is one of a number of new policies announced in the Giving Whitepaper in May 2011. Giving Challenges and the Innovation in Giving fund are both funded by the Cabinet Office and run by Nesta. For further information please see www.cabinetoffice.giv.uk/resource-library/giving-white-paper 

Survey data tables

Download the tables for survey data by city and age.

[1]Defra, Waste Data Review, June 2011