Community litter grants

Round 7 Community Litter Grant Program is now open.

Program snapshot

Eligible bodies: NSW community groups

Contact:  (02) 9995 5000 or litter.prevention@epa.nsw.gov.au

Status: Round 7 Community Litter Grant Program is now open, with applications closing at 4pm on Monday 8 November 2021.

Managed by: The NSW EPA

Round 7 of the Community Litter Grants are part of a Transition Round of funding under Waste Less, Recycle More. The Community Litter Grants program started in 2012 and has run over 6 rounds. 

To apply for funding, a community group must be a non-government, not-for-profit organisation. You must have your own constitution and be incorporated under the law of a state or territory of Australia as an incorporated association, company or cooperative society.

All projects must be completed by February 2023.

Aims

The Community Litter Grant program aims to support litter reduction targets in the NSW Government’s Waste and Materials Strategy 2041, including a 30% reduction in plastic litter by 2025, and a 60% reduction of all litter items by 2030.

All funded projects must include direct community leadership and participation in the development of litter prevention activities.

For more information, contact the EPA Litter Prevention unit at litter.prevention@epa.nsw.gov

This program is open for applications. For information see below.

Round 7 Community Litter Grant Guidelines (PDF 1MB)

Round 7 program

Grant funding for round 7 is available over 3 streams.

Stream 1: On-ground projects

  • Between $4,000 and $40,000 is available per project
  • Is for groups that want to act on a locally-identified litter issue at one or more locations
  • Projects in this stream will use proven methods of litter prevention to support their local community to reduce litter.

Stream 2: Own it and Act Strategic projects

  • Between $40,000 and $80,000 is available per project
  • Projects in this stream will be longer-term strategic state or regional litter prevention initiatives that do not need to be site-specific
  • Applicants must demonstrate how projects will build organisational capacity for their community group and/or partner organisations to deliver future long-term litter prevention outcomes
  • Projects in this stream must align with and use the Own it and Act strategic framework (PDF 1.1MB) developed by the NSW EPA Litter Prevention Unit.

Stream 3: Own it and Act strategic implementation

  • Between $50,000 and $100,000 is available per project
  • Projects in this stream will focus on the dissemination and implementation phase of state-wide or regional litter prevention strategies that were developed under Community Litter Grants Round 6 Stream 2
  • Projects must involve key stakeholders within a state or region, including community-based organisations (e.g. NGOs, local groups) and land managers (e.g. local councils)
  • Organisations applying for funding must have an existing Litter Prevention Strategy that:
    • includes an Executive Summary that makes a business case for funding, and
    • incorporates learnings from the NSW EPA Own it and Act strategic framework. 
  • Grantees in this stream will engage proactively with the NSW EPA, both as the grant program manager and as a consulting partner.

Timeframe

1 Oct 2021

18 Oct 2021

8 Nov 2021

Dec 2021

May 2022

Feb 2023

Round 7 applications open.

Workshops and/or webinars on how to use the Local Litter Check, Own it and Act framework, and how to develop effective litter prevention projects

Round 7 applications close

Successful applicants announced. Groups complete and deliver:

· Deed agreement signed.

· Milestone 1 invoices

Stream 1: mid-project meeting due to report on progress.

· Stream 2 and 3: mid-project meeting, written report due on progress

· Milestone 2 invoice

All projects completed, with final reports and case studies submitted.

Stream 2 and 3: Milestone 3 invoices

 

Grant funding for round 6 was available in two streams.

Stream 1: On-Ground litter prevention projects - $4,000 to $40,000

  • For groups who want to act on a locally identified litter issue at one or more locations
  • Projects in this stream will use proven methods of litter prevention to support the motivation of the community group to reduce litter.

Stream 2: Own It and Act partnership projects - $50,000 to $90,000

  • Projects in this stream will be longer-term strategic state or regional litter prevention initiatives that may not be site-specific.
  • Projects must demonstrate how they build leadership and capacity of community groups to deliver ongoing litter prevention outcomes.
  • Projects in this stream must align with and support the Own It and Act strategic framework developed by the DPIE Litter Prevention Unit.

Round 6 recipients – Stream 1

Organisation

Amount

Project summary
Canterbury City Community Centre $15,000 Lakemba Tackles Takeaway Litter
This project aims to address littered takeaway packaging items and littering from motor vehicles at four hotspot locations including Lakemba town centre, a local primary school, community park and popular picnic area. Utilising community leaders and local community groups, Canterbury City Community Centre aims to engage with the local CALD community to promote responsible disposal of rubbish whilst engaging the support of Canterbury Bankstown Council to enforce littering fines and promotion of the NSW EPA's Report littering from vehicles program.
Dharriwaa Elders Group $35,000 Keep Our Rivers Clean
Located on the Namoi and Barwon River, this project focuses on education and shifting attitudes within the local Indigenous community about the impact of litter on the local environment and the need for urgent action to protect the community's river system and lifesource. The initiative seeks to reduce litter by 50% at sites along the Barwon River by 2021, incorporating key litter prevention mechanisms including clean ups and infrastructure. A key element of the campaign will be education, which will be focussed on the voices of Aboriginal Elders who hold the cultural authority for shifting behaviours towards Caring for Country. The Dharriwaa Elders Group, in partnership with UNSW, will evaluate the program's effectiveness through an ongoing behaviour change initiative.
Greenacre Community Centre $28,425 Keep Greenacre Clean & Green
Led by a subcommittee called the "Greenacre Clean & Green Team" this project will take an integrated approach to reducing litter and littering behaviours in Greenacre and address the significant litter issue at a community car park on Waterloo Road. In addition to new bin infrastructure and CALD community signage, the Community Centre will partner with Canterbury-Bankstown City Council to deliver workshops aimed at educating the community on littering with a regular pop-up stall at the carpark to provide an on-ground presence for promoting the carpark as a clean community space.
Raymond Terrace Lions Club $6,500 Clean Up Fitzgerald
Engaging closely with Port Stephens Council and Raymond Terrance Men's Shed Fishing Group, this project aims to address litter at a popular boat ramp and picnic area. The project will install new bins and additional Don't Be A Tosser! signage in conjunction with regular contact with locals to promote the area as litter-free environment.
Wangarang Industries $10,005 Highway Litter Prevention
The aim of this project is to reduce the amount of litter being thrown from cars, trucks and other vehicles using the Northern Distributor leading into Orange. To achieve this, Wangarang Industries will partner with Orange City Council to install Tosser! signage as well as VMS roadside signage during peak season to communicate the NSW EPA's Report littering from vehicles program. In addition the project partners will engage with Northern Distributor Businesses to communicate to customers to responsibly dispose of rubbish, with the Orange City Council Rangers assisting by patrolling the site over the project period.

Round 6 recipients – Stream 2

Organisation

Amount

Project summary
Jindabyne Chamber of Commerce $75,300 Sustainable Snowies Litter Prevention Strategy
This project aims to better understand the contributing factors to litter across Jindabyne and the Snowy Mountains as part of a litter prevention pilot strategy to reduce litter by 50% by 2025 in the region. The project will be led by a Litter Prevention Project Officer who will trial and refine the strategy, engaging with a diverse stakeholder group to develop a toolbox of resources for regional litter prevention plans. At the conclusion of the project, member organisations will establish targets and commit resources to systematically reduce litter using evidence-based approaches, ensuring long term coordinated litter prevention outcomes across the Snowy Mountain region.

OceanWatch $71,300 Litter Free Estuaries Pilot
Working closely with community groups, land managers and estuary users, this project aims to pilot a litter prevention initiative in Brisbane Water to reduce the amount of litter by 50% at typical estuary litter hotspot locations. At the conclusion of the pilot, OceanWatch aims to develop a Litter Prevention Strategy which will be disseminated to communities, water users and local councils surrounding 22 NSW estuaries, to raise awareness of local litter issues, train key stakeholders in proven litter prevention strategies and establish a foundation for future litter prevention initiatives within the seafood and other estuary-based businesses.
River Canoe Club of NSW/Cooks River Alliance $90,000 Cooks River Litter Prevention Strategy
The River Canoe Club of NSW, in partnership with the Cooks River Alliance and key community stakeholders, aims to develop a comprehensive and collaborative litter prevention strategy to reduce 50% of litter entering the Cooks River by 2025.
To achieve this, a series of community-led pilots will be carried out, including clean-ups, community awareness and education initiatives focused on litter prevention and coordinated with land managers. At the conclusion of the project the leaning from the pilots with be synthesised into a strategic plans for partners to adapt, to achieve sustained long term litter reduction in the Cooks River.
Sydney Coastal Councils Group/
Parramatta River Catchment Group		 $90,000 Greater Sydney Harbour Litter Prevention Strategy
Working with community groups and member councils, this project aims to develop a Regional Litter Prevention Strategy to reduce the amount of litter entering the Parramatta River and Sydney Harbour by 50% by 2025. The project will be implemented by employing a Community Project Delivery Officer to pilot litter prevention strategies in three council areas, developing a 'proof of concept' model that involves community education and involvement, as well as embedding litter prevention policies and commitments into council planning and strategy. At the conclusion of the project, the Sydney Coastal Councils Group, in partnership with the Parramatta River Catchment Group, seeks to incorporate the evidence-based litter prevention strategy into all member councils' efforts to achieve long term litter prevention in Parramatta River and Sydney Harbour.
Take 3 For the Sea $89,103 First Wave: NSW Tourism Industry Pilot Program #Take3forNSW
Working in consultation with National Parks & Wildlife Services (NPWS), Destination NSW and key tourism stakeholders, Take 3 will pilot a Litter Prevention Strategy at 3 tourist locations around the state, to analyse the key factors contributing to litter and trial litter prevention strategies in consultation with the tourism industry to reduce litter at hotspots by 50%. At the conclusion of the project, Take 3 will develop an online toolkit based on the proof of concept pilots, to engage with licenced tourism operators and tourism stakeholders to systematically address tourism-generated litter. The ownership of litter prevention will be underpinned by a litter prevention certification program for tourism operators.
Total Environment Centre $90,000 AUSMAP - Developing and Testing a Framework for Microplastic Litter Reduction in NSW
Building on their pilot for reducing litter and microplastics in a single catchment area, AUSMAP will expand the scope by partnering with Macquarie University and Southern Cross University to form the evidence base for a flexible step-by-step rapid response approach for reducing macro and micro litter regionally at the local government level. The litter reduction pilot will be trialled in three diverse regions: an inland farming catchment (Central West NSW), a tourist coastal catchment (Far North NSW) and an urban city catchment (Cooks River Sydney) utilising the Australian Microplastic Assessment Project (AUSMAP) tools to deliver outcomes set out under NSW EPA Litter Prevention Strategy.

Amount awarded: $263,646

Status: Closed – Implementation January 2020 to April 2021

For the first time Community Litter Grant funding was provided in two streams.

Stream 1: Local single-community group projects - $4,000 to $10,000
This stream is for a community group to conduct a litter prevention project at a single littered location. It is intended for groups who are taking their first steps in the litter prevention journey.

Stream 2: Multi-site and/or multi-organisation - $20,000 to $70,000
This stream is for larger organisations that are able to work across multiple sites and involve multiple groups. It is intended for groups with the capacity to engage in litter prevention at scale and over the long term. 

Round 5 recipients – Stream 1

Organisation

Amount

Project summary

Lake Macquarie Sustainable Neighbourhood Alliance

$7,720

Plastic Free Cafes

The project will collaborate with Lake Macquarie City Council to promote the program and support local café operators to subsidise the sale of high-quality reusable coffee cups and to trial reusable straws. The project will aim to establish a new norm to prefer reusable items over single-use by encouraging coffee drinkers to purchase and use reusable coffee cups.

Macarthur Diversity Services Initiative

$5,000

Airds Litterbusters

This project aims to engage the users of basketball courts near local shops to clean up and keep their location clean of discarded glass beverage containers and takeaway packaging. Community events will provide a focus to promote the ‘Airds Clean Up Crew’ of volunteers to support the projects.

Macarthur Diversity Services Initiative

$5,500

Claymore Litterbusters

This project will adopt a community development approach to tackling litter in a walkway connecting a residential area with the local shops. Residents will be engaged to form the Claymore Litterbusters project to engage other residents, school children and mothers with children who regularly use the walkway with litter prevention messages, including street barbecues, clean-up events and school outreach

Macquarie Shores Swimming Club

$10,000

The Lake Starts Here

This project will aim to beautify a well-used local walkway along a creekline and bring it from a state of neglect to an area in which locals take pride and keep litter free. Local Litter Champions will be promoted and will involve local indigenous and non-indigenous community members to care for country. An integrated approach to litter prevention will include clean-up, installation of bins, art work and the Hey You Mob! message.

Tathra Surf Life Saving Club

$9,950

Tathra Beach Litter Patrol

To accommodate the heavy use of Tathra Beach during summer months, bins with bin enclosures will be installed at the two main entrances to the beach, along with signage, floor decals and cigarette butt bins. A corrosion-resistant trailer will be designed and built to take onto the beach and provide bin facilities for the users of the beach. Litter patrols with encourage beach users to keep the beach clean, with clean up kits provided as a means of both keeping it clean and raising awareness of the impact of littering.

Round 5 recipients – Stream 2

Organisation

Amount

Project summary

Ethnic Communities Council of NSW

$49,590

CALD Communities Litter Less

This project will work in partnership with Sydney Olympic Park Authority recruiting bilingual educators to reach out to users of picnic sites to prevent litter. Through an initial engagement to capture user’s views of litter and the location, the program will aim to provide litter prevention messages and prompts to put rubbish in bins in community languages. At each site, there will be a ‘dashboard’ to promote litter prevention messages and provide feedback on the program’s effectiveness.

Seabin Foundation Ltd

$69,572

Connecting Seabin Data with Communities

Working in four locations along the north NSW coast, this project will focus on litter in waterways and help local communities draw the link with litter on adjacent land. By raising awareness of debris in waterways and littering behaviour nearby on the land, the project aims to reduce litter found both on land and captured in nearby Seabins. A key focus is working with nearby businesses and boat owners to promote the litter prevention message through outreach to customers and community members.

Take 3

$68,800

Take 3 Surf Life Saving Project

Working with Surf Saving Clubs to lead litter prevention initiatives at popular beaches, this project harnesses earlier success of Take 3 to reach out to beach users to reduce littering and care for the Shoalhaven coast. Resources will be developed to provide guidance for other SLCs beyond the life of the project, to help them understand litter prevention and run litter effective prevention projects at their own beaches.

Total Environment Centre

$37,514

Reducing Litter in Dee Why Lagoon Catchment

Targeting an area with high conservation value, this project will incorporate data developed through the Australian Microplastic Assessment Program (AUSMAP) to develop litter prevention strategies in two parts of the Dee Why Lagoon catchment. Source reduction data derived from AUSMAP and from small litter traps in stormwater drains will be 'triangulated' with data from the Local Litter Check to develop two related approaches to litter prevention, one focused on light industrial zone and the other on sporting fields. Working in partnership with Surfrider Foundation, targeted litter prevention campaigns will focus on plastic items that are otherwise destined to break down into microplastics in the marine environment

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