Evaluation of zero waste places projects 2009–2010 in England

To help drive the required behaviour change for increased sustainable practice, the government in England launched a ‘zero waste places’ initiative to develop innovative and exemplary practice. By inviting places to bid for zero waste places status, the successful applicants were then expected to become exemplars of good environmental practice on all waste issues. These zero waste places pilots commenced in October 2009 with the selection of seven distinct locations based upon an application by a partnership. Defra funding was £77 500 and the mean was £11 071. The overall evaluation suggests that the local authorities and their project partners rose to the challenge of zero waste, meeting or even exceeding their objectives (achieving a mean of 71% of aims and planned actions, across all projects) and achieved high value for money in terms of government-funded initiatives. Post-completion of pilot projects, the zero waste places initiative requires a total review to make use of the experience gained. At the present time the future of zero waste places is uncertain. There is no clear lead from Defra as to future developments.