New guidance available now...
"Low Participation Areas" (LPAs) are an issue for almost every local authority in the UK. These are areas where there are low amounts or a limited range of recyclates presented for recycling or where the items sent for recycling are of poor quality.
To help combat this, a guidance document "Improving Low Participation Areas - Effective Communications Planning" has been developed. It works on the premise that there is no "off-the-shelf" solution to tackling low participation and that each LPA will have its own unique set of characteristics, which must be clearly understood. The guide is supported by a simple online tool which takes users through the decision-making process.
Louise Bowe, WRAP, said: "Almost every local authority in the UK will have streets, neighbourhoods or maybe larger areas that under-perform when it comes to recycling and this can seriously undermine the overall success of collection schemes. Encouraging these residents to participate fully in recycling services can be challenging. However, we hope this guidance will help local authorities identify the unique issues within their LPAs and communicate with those residents more effectively."
WRAP will be running some dissemination events to help users get the best out of the guidance and tool later in the year. These will be announced on the training page of the website.