News

Wrap has given a confident response to news that the Conservatives are planning a full-scale review of the future of all quangos.

In a speech at the start of the month, Tory leader David Cameron laid out plans for a sweeping reform of how unelected non-governmental departments work under a Tory government.

The review, which Cameron said was an effort to cut costs and increase government accountability, would include Wrap and the Environment Agency, the two key agencies for the packaging and recycling industries.

In the speech, to think tank Reform, Cameron said that the review would ask "searching questions about whether the many hundreds of quangos in operation today should exist at all - or at least in their present form".

News of the review comes amid negotiations on the terms of a renewal to the Courtauld Commitment between supermarkets to reduce the environmental impact of their packaging, in which Wrap plays an instrumental role.

It has also run projects on a host of issues relating to packaging and recycling, often to mixed responses from industry.

In a statement, Wrap said that it was "absolutely right that there is close scrutiny of how taxpayers' money is spent."

"Our top priority is to deliver what we are asked to, and to do that very well, making sure we deliver good value to taxpayers," the statement said.

However, Wrap said that it believed there was "clear evidence" that it was doing a good job.

It highlighted its work on the first Courtauld Commitment, which has contributed to an end in growth in packaging waste, and its role in bringing the issue of food waste to light through its Love Food, Hate Waste campaign.

In the recycling sector, Wrap pointed to its role in supporting 101 recycling businesses and, it said, contributing £64m in turnover growth to the sector.

It also highlighted its Construction Commitments in the building industry, which have more than 100 signatories who have set resource efficiency requirements in contract documents worth £4.2bn.