Material Focus Electricals Recycling Fund

The Electricals Recycling Fund aims to grow existing methods or test new creative and practical ones for recycling small household electricals. If you have a project that would make it easier for the public to repair, reuse or recycle their electricals, apply for funding below!

The Challenge

Almost 80% of people think recycling their electricals is the right thing to do – but only 45% of people think it’s easy. We are looking to fund projects that make it easier for the UK to repair, donate or recycle their old electricals.

Interested? Read on for more information, download the Applicant’s pack for support with the application, and then submit your application.

Funding applications are currently open on a rolling basis, which means there is no deadline for them.

Submit an application

Growth and Innovation

We fund two types of projects – those seeking to grow or develop existing household collection services for small household electricals, and those seeking to innovate new collection methods.

  • A pale skinned council worker in orange standing in front to two bright pink electrical recycling wheelie bins with a waste lorry with a picture of Hypnocat on the side

    Growing existing services

    Organisations can apply for up to £100,000 of funding for projects that aim to grow or improve existing household waste and recycling collection services. Take a look at some of last year’s Electricals Recycling Fund projects for inspiration!

    Find out more (PDF)
  • two older pale skinned men leaning over a table inspecting an electrical repair

    Innovating new methods

    Organisations can apply for up to £50,000 for projects that aim to innovate or test new approaches to collect electricals for reuse and recycling. We may consider further funding should the project demonstrate value for money and significant impact. Take a look at some of last year’s Electricals Recycling Fund projects for inspiration!

    Find out more (PDF)
  • pale skinned hand from above working on a laptop

    Apply here

    Applications are now open, please apply using our application form

    Funding applications are currently open on a rolling basis, which means there is no deadline for applications.

    Apply for funding

What you need to know

The basics

  • pale skinned woman talking to another plae skinned woman at a community event over a table with a kettle on.

    Support for your application

    We have developed an Applicant Pack to support you with your application. Within the pack you will find the Applicant’s Guide, pdf version of the application form, draft terms and conditions as well as helpful templates. Download the Applicant Pack with button below

    Download the pack
  • two pale skinned women standing next to a large wheelie bin with the text

    Eligibility

    We’re keen to see applications from organisations, not individuals. That includes local authorities, waste collection authority areas, contractors, non-profits, community sector organisations, producer compliance schemes, and retailers.

  • ‘HypnoCat’ (a magenta-coloured Persian cat with blue spiral eyes) centre image in front of a blue spiral background with floating blue electrical items. Text: Never bin them, recycle your batteries

    What we offer

    If your application is successful we’ll provide you with project management support and access to our impactful, award-winning marketing materials. Take a look at how we supported last year’s Electricals Recycling Fund projects.

  • Zoomed in image of a laptop with people collaborating, one pointing at the screen and the other typing, both light-skinned.

    How to apply

    Funding applications are currently open on a rolling basis, which means there is no deadline. Once you’ve read through the Applicant’s Pack, please submit an application on our website. We’ll review this against our criteria within 3 months of applying if you are successful.

    Submit an application

Frequently asked questions

What funding is available and what is it for?

There is £750,000 available in the Electricals Recycling Fund to support recycling, reuse or repair organisations that test creative and practical methods for collecting unwanted electricals. 

 There is funding available for two types of projects:

  1. Projects to grow existing collection methods for small electricals.

    Organisations can apply up to £0.50 per household receiving the service. This is capped at £100,000 per applicant.
  2. Projects to innovate new approaches to repairing, reusing and/or recycling electricals.
    Funding is expected to be up to £50,000 per project. We may consider applications above this amount if the project demonstrates significant impact (in terms of households covered and/or projected tonnes/items collected) and longevity.

For more information on the projects we are looking to fund, or for more FAQs, please refer to our Applicant’s Guide (found in the Funding Applicant’s Pack). 

What support will you get from Material Focus if your application is successful?

Should your funding application be successful, Material Focus will provide project management support. 

You will have access to our award-winning marketing materials to help you promote the service to your target audience. This includes templates for assets (posters, leaflets, bin hangers, etc.), press releases and key messages that can be personalised with your logo, location and project information. 

We also offer marketing and communications guidance and support to help you achieve a cohesive message that reflects both your brand and Material Focus. 

Please note: all funded projects must use Material Focus’ branded assets to promote their project. Please refer to the Terms & Conditions for how public-facing materials must be managed, or the Applicant’s Guide for previous examples of how projects have used our branding. Both of these can be found in the Applicant’s Pack zip file.

For more FAQs, please download the Applicant’s Pack.

What can the funding be spent on?

Successful projects can spend funding on:

  • The purchase of new bins/collection points (‘bring banks’)
  • The adaptation of waste collection vehicles to include cages for kerbside WEEE 
  • Vehicle rental
  • Installation of bins
  • Communication and marketing materials 
  • Staffing costs to cover the time spent planning and delivering the project

Grant money can be spent on salaries if the person is working to deliver the agreed grant-funded project.

Operational costs refer to business-as-usual costs, such as overheads or rent of premises and these are not eligible for funding.

Please note the fund should be used to fund the expansion or introduction of a new project that could not have happened without the funding, rather than core operational costs.   

Available funding for the Growth/Household Collection projects is capped at £0.50 per household that will receive the collection service, up to a maximum of £100,000 per applicant. You will need to provide details/proof of this within your application form. Available funding for Innovation projects is £50,000.

Also note that funding provided to public bodies (such as local authorities) and charities is not subject to VAT, whereas for private companies this must be factored into the bid. Please refer to the Applicant’s Guide document for other restrictions and information.

For more FAQs, please download the Applicant’s Pack.

How does the application process work?

Funding applications are currently open on a rolling basis, which means there is no deadline for applications.

Please apply using the form on our website making sure to read through our Application Guide and funding terms and conditions first. A PDF version of the application form is available to make it easier to prepare your answers. 

You will be able to save your application as you go using the ‘save and continue’ button.

For more FAQs, please download the Applicant’s Pack.

I have submitted my application: What happens next?

Thanks for applying! We will be in touch with you within the next 3 months to let you know whether your application has been successful or not.

If you have been successful, we will send you the funding Terms and Conditions document which sets out key details about your project. This will confirm:

  • Project funding amount
  • Project start and end date
  • Project budget breakdown
  • Project overview and deliverables
  • Your agreement to use our comms and PR toolkits for project communications

For more information, please contact funding@materialfocus.org.uk. 

For more FAQs, please download the Applicant’s Pack.