Grants open to improve food and organic waste recycling
Councils and the alternative waste treatment (AWT) industry are now able to apply for NSW Government funding to improve the recycling of kerbside waste.
Environment Minister Matt Kean said the funding is part of the NSW Government’s $24 million AWT transition package to help councils and industry achieve better food and organics waste separation and innovate in how they recycle.
“The funding follows the Environment Protection Authority's (EPA) decision to stop the use of mixed waste organics outputs (MWOO),” Mr Kean said.
“It aims to support councils and the industry to plan and introduce separate food and organics waste services at the kerbside, making the most of the valuable resource that is household food and garden waste.”
“This is about the Government supporting innovative, sustainable resource recovery of general waste that will be environmentally, socially and economically beneficial,” Mr Kean said.
The new funding available includes:
- $12.5 million Organics Collections program grants
- $5 million Local Council Transition grants
- $2.51 million for Research and Development grants for new or alternative uses for general waste
LGNSW President Linda Scott said councils want to work with the NSW and Federal Governments to save our recycling, minimise waste and build a circular economy; this is an important step towards that goal.
“This much-needed funding will assist councils and council-led alternative waste treatment industries to help keep food and garden waste out of landfill – a goal that we share with Environment Minister Matt Kean to support our environment.
“I welcome this new NSW Government funding to support recycling in our communities, as only in partnership can we ensure we save recycling in NSW.”
The Organics Collections program grants provide councils impacted by mixed waste organic outputs (MWOO) regulatory changes with individual grants of up to $1.3 million to switch to garden only or food and garden organics collection services.
A total of $16 million is available under this round with an additional $3.5 million available to non-affected NSW councils.
The Local Council Transition grants support councils impacted by MWOO regulatory changes with a range of project options, including strategic planning, options assessment, community engagement, rolling out new organics collection services or improving their existing organics services.
The Research and Development grants will support initiatives to develop alternative end markets or new products for general waste, either to accelerate or enhance existing projects or fund new research and development.
An additional $3.75 million for processing infrastructure is scheduled to open for applications next month through the Organics Infrastructure Large and Small (OILS) program.
The grants are now open and details including how to apply and when applications close can be found on the EPA website at https://www.epa.nsw.gov.au/working-together/grants