In February 2004, Defra's Waste Research Team set up an advisory group, which it named the Waste and Resources Research Advisory Group (WRRAG), to assist in the team's development of a strategy for a three year £15m research and development programme.
WRRAG included representatives from the waste industry, local authorities, Government, universities research councils and the community sector. Its composition was nonetheless primarily task-orientated rather than representational; and, partly to counterbalance this, the WRT held a stakeholder forum in May 2004 to encourage wider representational discussion and made the ensuing draft strategy available for stakeholder feedback.