Litter Prevention Grants Program: grants available
Up to $10 million in funding is available in 3 streams from 2022 to 2027.
The NSW Government has opened the Waste and Sustainable Materials Strategy 2041 (WASM) Litter Prevention Grants Program for councils, community groups and other key stakeholders to deliver litter prevention projects and develop strategic plans to address litter in their local environments.
Up to $10 million is available from 2022 to 2027.
Funding is provided under 3 streams:
- Stream 1: Small-scale, on-ground projects, including a dedicated cigarette butt litter program
- Stream 2: Strategic development and capacity building
- Stream 3: Own It and Act strategic implementation
Expressions of interest for Intake 3 are open.
These guidelines will help guide your application for funding
- WASM Litter Prevention Grants: Guidelines 2022-27 (PDF 1.3MB)
- Cigarette Butt Litter Prevention Grant Program: Guidelines (PDF 280KB)
Submit your Expression of interest in grant funding through SmartyGrants.
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Intake 1 – now closed |
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| 8 March 2024 | Expressions of interest for Intake 3 close |
| 4 April 2024 | Round 3 applications due |
| 30 June 2027 | WASM Litter Prevention Grants projects close |
| Stream 1 – On-ground projects |
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| Randwick City Council $60,000 Litter Free Gordons and Yarra Bay Local litter checks have identified extensive littering of beverage containers litter at Gordons and Yarra Bay. The project will involve deep cleans of the project locations and installation of fit for purpose infrastructure that can withstand the harsh sea breeze. Appropriate signage using the Tosser campaign will be developed and installed at the location as appropriate. Council will deploy litter officers to patrol the beach during the busy summer season to deter the community from littering and educate them about potential littering fines. Council will also engage the services of an interactive theatre group to engage with the community and provide positive litter messages during the summer season. |
| Liverpool City Council $35,000 Tackling takeaway litter in Liverpool Liverpool City Council are aiming to achieve reductions of litter in two hotspot areas. The highest littered items in these two hotspot areas are food and beverage rubbish from takeaways. By undertaking public education using signage both at the hotspot areas and close to the source hubs, an increase in enforcement where possible and improvements in waste infrastructure around these hotspots Council aims to significantly reduce the volume of larger littered items found and improve the amenity for the community. |
| Stream 1 – Cigarette Butt projects |
| TAFE $40,000 Cigarette Butt Litter Prevention – Sydney (St George, Loftus, Gymea) TAFE NSW aims to enhance the overall health and wellbeing of students and staff by providing education on healthy living and environmental sustainability. and increasing awareness of the effects of smoking on people and the environment. Key strategies in achieving this are cross-functional collaboration internally across TAFE NSW, and positive and proactive engagement with local health providers. The project seeks to implement a range of interventions to reduce the quantity of butt litter to eliminate their impact on the environment. |
| TAFE $40,000 Cigarette Butt Litter Prevention – Northern NSW (Casino, Kingscliff, Wollongbar) This TAFE NSW project aims to enhance the overall health and wellbeing of students and staff by providing education on healthy living and environmental sustainability primarily through enhancing awareness of the effects of smoking on people and the environment. Key strategies include cross-functional collaboration internally across TAFE NSW, and positive and proactive engagement with local health providers. The project seeks to implement a range of strategies to reduce the quantity of butt litter to eliminate the impact on the environment, including upgrading and installing new infrastructure. |
| TAFE $40,000 Cigarette Butt Litter Prevention – Broken Hill Cluster West (Broken Hill, Wilcannia, Menindee, Coomealla, Moree) TAFE NSW aims to keep its sites clean and tidy by reducing the butt litter on the ground. Many of these sites are non-smoking and TAFE aim to install appropriate signage and infrastructure to reduce the butt litter disposed of by people and scavengers. TAFE NSW also plans to enhance the overall health and wellbeing of students and staff through providing education on healthy living and environmental sustainability. This will be achieved by cross-functional collaboration internally across TAFE NSW in addition to positive and proactive engagement with local health providers. |
| TAFE $40,000 Cigarette Butt Litter Prevention – West (Dubbo and Orange) TAFE NSW aims to keep its sites clean and tidy by reducing the butt litter on the ground. Many of these sites are non-smoking and TAFE aim to install appropriate signage and infrastructure to reduce the butt litter disposed of by people and scavengers. TAFE NSW also plans to enhance the overall health and wellbeing of students and staff through providing education on healthy living and environmental sustainability. This will be achieved by cross-functional collaboration internally across TAFE NSW in addition to positive and proactive engagement with local health providers. |
| Coonamble Neighbourhood Centre Inc $40,000 Butt Out Coonamble To tackle the problem in Coonamble, the Coonamble Neighbourhood Centre will provide butt bins throughout the identified hotspot areas to decrease the cigarette butt litter rates. This will be complemented by signage to indicate the availability of the new bins to assist with educating smokers and the community in general. Local businesses will be included in general community discussions advising them of the availability of the new bins. The local newspaper, social media and other forms of advertising will be used to promote the project and acknowledge the NSW Government's contribution. |
| Purple Card Project Pty Ltd $40,000 Wallsend Village Butt Litter Prevention Project The Wallsend Village Butt Litter Prevention Project comprises six hotspot sites surrounding Wallsend Village Shopping Centre. Observations revealed that a primary cause of littering across all sites is insufficient infrastructure, no designated smoking areas across the whole site, and “No Smoking” signs found at entrances only. To enhance Pride and Ownership and communicate expected behaviour the grantee will coordinate a thorough clean-up of all sites targeting small litter. This will coincide with the installation of signage and butt bins, supported by an extra car park cleaning to reinforce expected behaviour. The bus shelter will implement Pathways strategies to highlight the existing butt bin. Community surveys will assist to identify locations for smoking zones, additional butt bins, and signage across all sites. |
| Randwick City Council $20,000 Butt Litter Reduction at Randwick The project plan will use the EPA's 13 step approach to butt litter reduction at La Perouse and Randwick. The butt litter check has identified significant butt littering at the two hot spots. Council will install appropriate butt bins along with Hey Tosser campaign signs. Interactive education will be undertaken for community awareness. Enforcement rangers will be mobilised for enforcement of butt littering. Butt litter checks will be conducted mid-way through and at the end of the project to achieve a target of 50% reduction in butt litter.
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| Stream 2 – Strategic development and capacity building |
| Byron Shire Council $95,000 Byron Shire Council Litter Prevention Plan and Roadmap This project will consist of undertaking a Cost of Litter Study, continuing to monitor litter data in the local environment, undertaking EPA Own It and Act (OIAA) processes and engaging various stakeholders in the development of a strategic litter plan. Through this, Byron Shire Council aims to increase the organisation's capacity in litter prevention, in line with the four OIAA enablers. The plan will ensure ongoing, long-term, organisation-wide, commitment to litter prevention. The Plan will also include ongoing efforts to prevent litter from entering waterways by stopping them at the source, as a part of the 'Source to Sea' project. Project findings will further identify key problem litter items and sources, to guide strategic efforts, working towards a 60% reduction in all littered items by 2029. |
| Sydney Coastal Council Group $40,000 Greater Sydney Harbour Regional Litter Prevention Strategy capacity building project The Sydney Coastal Councils Group’s project involves developing a Roadmap to work towards long-term litter prevention targets and delivery actions for the SCCG councils in Greater Sydney Harbour, as reflected in the Greater Sydney Harbour Regional Litter Prevention Strategy 2021-30 (RLPS). The project will work towards developing a Roadmap for the SCCG's Greater Sydney Harbour councils, underpinned by cost of litter studies for individual SCCG councils. Capacity building initiatives will continue to be developed, including the Monitoring, Evaluation, Reporting and Improvement (MERI) Framework in partnership with the Parramatta River Catchment Group. |
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Bathurst Regional Council $96,000 Bathurst’s actions can limit litter impacts on Murray Darling Basin to improve water quality across the Central West. Council is committed to both waste and catchment education and has delivered the successful River Connections Project across six schools. The innovative project brings young people and Wiradyuri Elders together to learn about the river from a range of perspectives. Council anticipates aligning the litter strategy with the objectives contained in the NSW Litter Prevention Strategy 2022 – 2030, the Waste and Sustainable Materials Strategy and the NSW Plastics Plan. The final aspect to the project is the completion of the Stream 3 Roadmap in line with EPA guidelines to implement the key recommendations coming out of the strategy. |
| Canterbury-Bankstown Council $50,000 City of Canterbury Bankstown Litter Roadmap The Canterbury Bankstown community has identified litter prevention and clean up as actions to deliver a clean city. Council will build a cross team, multi-focus area, cross catchment, and regional approach to littering. A litter roadmap will incorporate baseline data collected to evaluate progress towards the WASM targets. These activities will be incorporated into Operational Plans for future budgeting and funding opportunities. The roadmap will engage neighbouring Councils, Regional ROCs, Catchment Groups and State agencies litter strategies/goals. It will pull together litter actions from across the organisation to deliver on a commitment to reduce litter that is deliverable and trackable with long-term goals. Synchronising outcomes with our neighbours and partners in a single document will make it clear to NSW that CB City is committed to WASM Strategy goals. |
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Seabin Foundation Ltd $40,000 The project will conduct a comprehensive assessment of the extent and causes of littering in our community and throughout the study site. It will engage with stakeholders, including local government, businesses, schools, and community organisations to develop a comprehensive prevention and evaluation framework. An action plan will outline the specific steps to be taken to implement the framework, including timelines, responsibilities, and resources to identify the outcomes to be measured. The Canterbury Bankstown community has identified litter prevention and clean up as actions to deliver a clean city. Council will build a cross team, multi-focus area, cross catchment, and regional approach to littering. A litter roadmap will incorporate baseline data collected to evaluate progress towards the WASM targets. These activities will be incorporated into Operational Plans for future budgeting and funding opportunities. |
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Inner West Council $100,000 The Strategy will analyse preliminary data gathered from the study site and adapt for other relevant water catchment areas, interpret feedback given in steering committee, apply OIAA Framework assessment to the strategy, and action plan, to assess its alignment with the Own it and Act strategic implementation criteria and ensure the strategy can lead to the development of a 3-year roadmap to be implemented for Sydney Harbour and other areas in NSW. |
| Northern Beaches Council $96,000 Clean Environment in a Circular Economy This initiative will provide Northern Beaches Council with a clear strategic direction for litter prevention, with defined targets and mechanisms for success. A cross-organisational steering committee will build understanding, collaboration and ongoing commitment and permission to take effective action on litter prevention. Ultimately, a "Roadmap to a Clean Environment" will be produced, to provide Council the opportunity to enter a new phase of strategic implementation of litter prevention over the long term. The roadmap will detail the rationale, objectives, initiatives, targets, and resources for Council to deliver on the "Clean Environment" direction of its Waste and Circular Economy strategy and other strategies, charters and plans. A Project Officer placed within Council's Waste and Cleansing unit will work strategically and collaboratively across the organisation to build the capacity of Northern Beaches Council to prevent litter. This initiative will build on a 2022 Cost of Litter Study and the findings of the Preliminary Status Check completed by Council in March 2023. |
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Clean Up Australia Limited $61,000 The roadmap will provide a framework for Clean Up Australia's future campaigns to align with the NSW Litter Prevention Strategy. The project will be informed by surveys, focus groups, and interviews with Clean Up Australia's volunteers and supporters. It will also draw on best practices from other successful environmental organisations in driving behaviour change. The roadmap will provide Clean Up Australia with a strategic tool to mobilise its network of volunteers and supporters towards prevention, championing actions, and leading their local communities to more a sustainable future. |
| National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) $75,000 NPWS Litter Strategy NPWS has a major part to play in the State's success in litter prevention, with a particular interest on the impact of litter on the health of NSW’s plants, animals, and environment. This project will be the start of a comprehensive program to capture baseline data and conduct organisational surveys to help understand the litter problem. This will be used build leadership, set targets, and create a business case for further strategic work. A strategy roadmap will detail how NPWS will work towards long-term litter prevention targets and deliver actions beyond the life of the funding cycle. The project will transform the organisation's holistic understanding of the scope, size, economics, culture, and values needed for a state-wide organisational strategy. Many individuals, areas and NPWS executives have the appetite and the track record in the litter space, and the project will provide a unified vision, targets and actions, funding and organisational position to drive lasting and systemic change. |
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Cumberland City Council $80,000 The deliverables from the grant include a Litter Prevention Strategy and Action Plan, Roadmap, Own It and Act consensus rubric, baseline of current organisational litter prevention capacity, and community engagement and communication actions. A steering committee made up of specialist across multiple disciplines within Council will meet regularly to guide the direction of the project. |
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OzFish Unlimited $79,200 |
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Shellharbour City Council $100,000 The Roadmap will build organisational capacity for litter prevention, establish litter prevention targets that align with Council’s capacity and EPA targets, identify the key sources of litter and how they enter our waterways, review existing infrastructure and catchment technologies to identify potential improvements, quantify the amount of litter and time allocated to litter management and improve monitoring and evaluation and data collection to ensure Council meets agreed litter prevention targets. |
| Stream 3 – Own It and Act Strategic Implementation |
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Take 3 for the Sea $449,978 After the success of First Wave (Phase 1) and Ground Swell (Phase 2) of the VEI Program, the strategic intent of Phase 3 is to continue to inspire the ownership of visitor litter and to challenge the VEI to work together to achieve the NSW Litter Reduction Targets in line with the NSW Visitor Economy Litter Prevention Strategy 2030. |
| Cooks River Alliance $373,000 Against the Flow, shifting the litter paradigm in the Cooks River Catchment The strategic intent of Cooks River - "Against the Flow" initiative is to further shift the litter management paradigm within the Cooks River catchment away from an emphasis on management after litter is released into the environment, to one that relies on coordinated, long-term catchment scale approaches to litter prevention. The Cooks River Alliance will play a coordinating role to establish a self-sustaining community of practice, foster partnerships to tackle catchment-wide litter issues and engage and empower the broader community to understand, support and advocate for litter prevention throughout the catchment. The secretariat will also include a report card on catchment wide litter data and progress. |
