The new business plan has set out £50 million ($62 million/€57 million) in investment for the project.
Circulate News reported that the announcement was made by the London Waste and Recycling Board (LWARB), which has approved the new business plan for the period 2017 to 2020, and set out the investment of £50 million for projects that relate to the circular economy. LWARB has been focused on London’s circular economy for a number of years, but recently there has been an upsurge in energy after the latest proposals, which “respond to challenges set out by the city’s mayor” Sadiq Khan.
Khan wants more jobs created in the city from the “economic opportunities of reuse, repair, remanufacturing and materials innovation”, and also wants London to be a zero carbon city by 2050, recycling at a rate of 65 percent by 2030. Three programmes will be funded: Advance London, Circular London and Resource London, which will be focused on “developing more effective management of resources and waste”, as well as supporting SMB’s developing new businesses and “creating a series of new financial instruments to help accelerate the transition to the circular economy in London”.
Full details of the funds will be announced soon, but there have been reports that LWARB will include a £3 million ($3.7 million/€3.4 million) accelerator programme for the circular economy, and a £14 million ($17 million/€16 million) investment fund has been put aside for “circular economy innovators” as well as £1.5 million ($1.8 million/€1.7 million) investment into “larger circular economy business developments”.